Futureknight
by giveGodtheglory
Summary: The Batman legacy lives on...with a twist.
1. Prologue

And that's all we've got," said the man on the screen with a weary sigh. "But you've probably had this information for awhile now."

"Most of it." The reply was deep and emotionless.

Police Commissioner David Freeman raised one eyebrow at the admission, but refrained from commenting on it. "I hate cases like this. The guys lower in the department are always griping about how they wish the super-psychos would quit redoing what's already been done and think of something new." He smiled mirthlessly. "But they don't have to deal with it when someone does."

There was no reply from the menacing red figure in the chair.

David studied the expressionless faceplate crowned with the trademark ears and wondered again about the man inside. "How's Robin? Those darts looked bad."

"Alright." The figure stirred slightly, looking upward.

David nodded. "Good."

He glanced down at the bottom corner of his screen. "Calls backing up like water in the street. I'll let you know if we find anything."

The figure gave a short nod and reached to disconnect, but paused as David spoke again.

"Oh, and Batman?"

The figure regarded him impassively.

"Thanks."

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The Batman sat for a few minutes and stared at the empty screen, then glanced up at the cronometer in the corner of the suit display.

"Are we goin' back out?" asked a youthful voice from overhead.

Batman gave a terse headshake and stood slowly, one of the servo motors in the red suit whining softly.

"No," said the emotionless synthetic voice as the tall figure made its way carefully across the huge cavern and into the costume vault.

"Batman?" A boy darted down from the shadows near the ceiling. "You took a hit, didn't you?"

"Yes." The reply was a soft feminine gasp. "Call your mom."

Robin landed in the chair in front of the huge computer screen, his small hands flying skillfully over the keys. He didn't look up as a black motorcycle purred into the Cave and came to a stop next to the Batmobile.

"Robin?" A lithe woman garbed in nearly-featureless black dismounted and pulled back her cat-eared cowl to display green eyes and tightly braided red hair.

"Prudence!" The child turned gladly. "She's hurt. I'm trying to call Ama, but she's not answering on any of the lines."

The red-haired woman turned and hurried into the vault. "Miss Veronica?"

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Ronnie Greyson looked up guiltily, then returned her eyes to the helmet in her lap. "I can't move."

Prudence Pennyworth sighed and knelt next to her, eyes scanning for injury.

"I didn't dodge fast enough. A couple flechettes breached the suit." Ronnie leaned her head against her butler's shoulder. "The right hip servo's damaged."

"I see that." Prudence pushed her back gently and began removing the red armor. "Are you in pain?"

"Yes." Ronnie gasped.

Prudence stopped in dismay as the chestplate came away, revealing the tiny entry wound beneath Ronnie's lowest rib on the right side, then swiftly stripped away the rest of the Batman costume and gathered her young mistress into her arms.

"It didn't hit anything vital." Ronnie gritted her teeth and let herself be carried to the medical lab and lain on the table.

"Hush." Prudence covered her with a sheet and pulled down the internal imaging device.

"Ronnie?" Robin hovered over Prudence's shoulder, eyes on his senior partner's face.

"Yes, chum?" She turned her head slightly to look at him, her grey eyes dark with pain. "Don't worry, I'll be okay."

He nodded and reached up to tug at his mask.

"Use the releaser," Prudence said without turning.

"Yes, ma'am." He jumped guiltily. "Ama says she'll be here as soon as she can, but Kid Flash hit a truck and she's gotta make sure he's okay first."

Ronnie chuckled despite herself. "Poor Kenny."

"Whole new meaning to the term 'awkward growth spurt'." Robin grinned and darted away, then back, bright blue eyes twinkling in his fair face.

"Yes." Ronnie frowned at the imager screen.

"You've got a dart stuck in your life-support module." Robin's smile faded.

"Good thing I don't need it any more." Her eyes slipped shut as the IV Prudence had hooked her to began to take effect.

"Master Clark, could you please wait outside?" Prudence went to a cupboard and returned with a tray of surgical instruments.

His chin quivered slightly. "Sure. I'll pray, too."

"Thank you, Master Clark."

Ronnie forced her eyes open again to see him giving her a thumbs up as he backed out of the room.

"Stop fighting the sedative, Miss Veronica." Prudence went to the sink and started washing her hands.

Ronnie sighed and obeyed, hearing the rush of the transporter tube in the main Cave as her consciousness faded.


	2. Chapter 1

_"My goodness, Miss Veronica, there's no doubt that you're a Grayson."_

_Three year old Ronnie looked down at her favorite grown-up friend and giggled. "How'd you find me? I hide good!"_

_"You certainly did." Prudence reached the branch she clung to and paused to look back down at the house._

_"All my aunties 'n nuncles!" said Ronnie proudly, watching the crowd that mingled and laughed on the expansive back lawn._

_"Yes." Prudence smiled, then glanced up at a multi-jet that was flying overhead. "But now we must get you down from this tree!"_

_Ronnie giggled again. "I get down myself! Big girl!"_

_"Indeed." Prudence watched her bemusedly as she swung gaily back and forth on the branch and then caught it with her hands in preparation of going down._

_"Richy come?" she asked for the umpteenth time since the day had started, seeming to pay no attention to the long drop below her as her big grey eyes went to Prudence's face._

_"No. Master Richard couldn't come," Prudence repeated patiently, putting an arm around Ronnie's plump middle and lifting her._

_"I can do it!" The toddler wriggled indignantly._

_"Yes, you can..."_

_Ronnie stopped struggling and looked up as Prudence stiffened and growled, then shrieked as her friend suddenly grabbed her with both arms and leapt from the tree, landing on her feet and running toward the woods._

_"Pru?" She started to cry with fright at the strange behavior._

_Then she screamed as a loud noise seemed to push Prudence forward. The air filled with a horrible smell._

_"Jesus, be our shield!" Prudence's voice was a cry of agony as Ronnie screamed again, her body spazming._

_It hurt! It hurt! And she felt so sick..._

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Ronnie woke gasping, her muscles taut with remembered pain.

_Dream_. She forced herself to relax. _Just a dream._

She tentatively raised one hand to her face, grateful to see that her mobility implant was back online.

The hand went down to explore the bandages stuck to her side, fingers smoothing a rough corner. _Not too big. It mustn't have been too hard to get out. Good. I've got enough lines._

She chuckled and lifted the hand again to study the tracery of silver that marked her nervous system, then let it fall and turned her mind to the night before. _He called himself Hormah. And those flechetts he threw... At least I have a weapon sample, though that's the first time he's used them. Most of his victims so far have been gassed._

"I need to get a sample of that gas." She dug her shoulders into the bed, then reached up to the overhead bar and pulled herself to a sitting position. "I'd like breakfast now, Prudence."

"Zit alright if I bring it instead? rumbled a harsh voice from the intercom.

Ronnie's thoughtful scowl was replaced with delight. "Uncle Lobo! When did you get in?"

"Few minutes ago." The former assassin pushed the door open and clomped over to hand her a little bowl.

"What happened to the tray and the crackers?" Ronnie lifted an eyebrow.

"Didn't need no tray." He gave her a toothy grin, his red eyes dancing as he slumped into the bedside chair. "An' I don't know nothin' 'bout no crackers."

Ronnie set the bowl on the night table and reached over to dust the crumbs out of the stubble on his chin. "Of course you don't. You would never eat cheese-flavored crackers shaped like goldfish."

"$# no!" He caught her in a gentle hug. "'N I'll frag anybody that says different. How ya doin', kid?"

"Alright." She let go of him and pressed the button to raise the head of her bed, then lay back.

He gave her a look, totally unfooled. "What hurts?"

"My hip. It'll pass." She picked up the soup and gave thanks, then sipped contentedly.

"Don't know how ya kin drink that crap." Lobo shuddered and curled his lip.

"Miso soup is my favorite. And it saved you from having to go back to Prudence for a second bowl."

"Yeah." He grinned, totally unrepentant about his breakfast pilfering.

She smiled back fondly. "It's good to see you. Where did you and Aunt Star park?"

"Star labs." Lobo pulled out a chewed cigar and stuck it in his mouth. "Star wanted ta catch up with Vendea."

Ronnie reached up and took the cigar, then dropped it into the trash basket.

"Hey! That's my last one!"

"Good." She quirked an eyebrow.

He scowled at her, an expression known to make hardened killers faint with fear.

She smiled back, eyes dancing.

The scowl faltered.

"Frag, ya never were scared 'a me." He sighed and reached for a chocolate rabbit that sat on the night table.

"That's Clark's," said Ronnie. "And it's hard to be afraid of the person who used to sing to me and tell me stories when my whole body hurt."

He sniffed the rabbit and set it back. "Don't see how the kid can stand that crap. So what bastich hurt ya?"

"Hormah."

Lobo froze in the act of reaching into the trash, then sat up slowly. "Hormah?"

Ronnie blinked at the rumble of deadly menace in his voice. "Yes."

"That dirty bastich has some &$ nerve comin' back here," snarled Lobo.

"You've met him?" She quirked an eyebrow.

"He wouldn't be alive if I had! I'd a fragged 'im 'n fed 'im ta slorgs!" Lobo leaped to his feet and began to stalk back and forth, his eyes nearly glowing with rage.

"Master Lobo?" Prudence paused in the doorway, regarding him with disapproval. "Whatever has aroused your temper, I am certain that it does not warrant that sort of language."

He whirled and glared at her. "Hormah's back."

Prudence growled an archaic curse, her claws unsheathing reflexively.

"Wait." Ronnie frowned. "You know him?"

Prudence shook herself and examined the damage to her white gloves. "Indeed I do, Miss Veronica. He challenged your uncle James on more than one occasion."

"I haven't seen his name on the list of criminals who worked in Gotham." Ronnie shifted, wincing absently.

"No, he never worked in Gotham." Prudence glanced at Lobo as he put his fist through the wall. "But he carried on quite a determined vendetta against the members of the Donaldson/Wayne/Grayson family."

"He's the one that dropped the Blight bomb." Ronnie felt her legs go cold at the realization.

Prudence took a deep breath and nodded, face expressionless. "Yes."


	3. Chapter 2

Thanks to my reviewer! I just want to say now that no character that you recognize from cannon DC belongs to me. All the rest do.

God bless!

> 

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"So this is the man who killed my family." Ronnie's voice was flat and emotionless.

"Not all your family," said Clark softly from where he stood behind the seat of her wheelchair with his head on her shoulder. She suppressed the impulse to reach up and touch his face, instead pulling the Bat persona around herself like a mask.

"Yes," said Prudence, equally emotionless.

"Narmo 'n I'll track him down," offered Con from where he sat with his arm around Vendea's waist as she leaned against him with her head bowed.

"No." Ronnie turned her chair toward the window and gazed sightlessly at the back lawn. "He's working in Gotham."

"&$# it, you're as stupid as Bruce was!" blurted Con, folding his arms over his chest.

"Ada..." Clark turned and gave him a warning look.

"Ronnie, we're your family. We want to help you," said Vendea softly, looking up so that her long blond hair fell away from her face.

"I know that. But I'm not sure I trust any of you not to go postal on him, especially Uncle Con," said Ronnie cooly.

The sound of something shattering filtered faintly from the gym.

"I'll go calm 'im down." The other tall slender blond in the room got to her feet and limped out.

Con winced as windows rattled throughout the mansion. "I wouldn't do that, Ronnie. Superman forgives his enemies and tries to show them the error of their ways."

"Like you were showing Airman the error of his ways yesterday?" asked Vendea softly. "Con, love, right now you're so full of anger that I can't even hear your thoughts."

Con groaned and buried his face in his hands.

Ronnie sighed and turned back, her hand finally going up to her shoulder and covering Clark's. "I know this is bothering all of you. I remember my parents and the others who died that day. They were good people. Perhaps it was because I was so young when it happened, but their deaths only seemed like a long wait till I saw them again. If I hadn't had you to take care of me during my rehabilitation I might feel differently, but as things stand I don't feel any anger toward Hormah for what he did then. My family was saved. All he did was send them Home a little sooner than anyone expected."

Prudence cleared her throat and made a small catlike sound. "'And a little child shall lead them.' You are right, Miss Veronica."

"You can't tell me you're not mad at him," said Con skeptically. "You're doing the Bat thing."

"I am angry about what he's been doing to the Gothamites he's killed," she admitted readily. "And scared to death of the thought that God might let him take some of you."

Clark's warm little arms wrapped around her neck from behind, offering wordless support.

She leaned back against him gratefully, feeling a surge of fierce love for the child and for the couple who had given him to her. -My baby. Jesus, please let Your chariots surround him and the others. Keep them safe and well and help them to forgive.-

Con cleared his throat and she looked up to see him wiping his eyes embarrassedly on his sleeve as Vendea leaned her head on his shoulder.

Another throat being cleared made her turn to the door, where Lobo stood and looked at her with a faraway, thoughtful expression on his face.

"Where is Miss Star? She went to join you." Prudence stood and started picking up cups.

"Mad at me," he said absently, still looking at Ronnie.

"What are you thinking?" she asked softly, eyes meeting his.

"Rememberin' Czarnia," he said gruffly.

Ronnie looked away, hand on Clark's where they crossed over her chest as she thought of the world her honorary uncle had destroyed. "That was a lot bigger than one family."

"Yeah," he said, absent again.

-And You forgave him. He knows his debt. He's probably the safest to set after Hormah. Prudence's instincts might get the best of her, and Uncle Con's always worn his heart on his sleeve. Narmo would probably be safe, but I don't want to call him away from Aunt Clara and Metropolis.-

"What're ya thinkin', kid?" Lobo leaned against the door frame with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Can you stick around for a few days?" She looked up again just in time to see Star come up behind him and squeeze his butt.

He gave a bellow of surprise and let out a string of alien curses as his wife laughed merrily, her one eye dancing.

"'Dea, you never squeeze my butt," said Con.

"It's not my favorite part of you." She pecked him on the cheek, then curled her feet under her on the couch and watched her mother and stepfather with a slight smile.

"Good grief, woman! Ya tryin' ta get fragged?" growled Lobo.

"I'd like ta see ya try." Star put her arms around his neck and pressed her nose to his.

Ronnie suppressed her own smile as she watched his scowl melt into a look of adoration and a nuzzle.

"PDA alert!" said Clark loudly, clapping his hands over his eyes.

Lobo snorted and hugged his wife close, his cheek rubbing against her hair as she lay her head against his shoulder. "Wanna stay in town a few days, babe?"

"Sure." She sighed, one hand sneaking back toward his butt.

He reached back and snagged it, grinning at her giggle, then turned toward Ronnie. "Sure, kid. Mind if we crash here?"

"I'll prepare your room." Prudence carried the coffee and tea things out, looking a bit happier than she had before.

"So..." Lobo closed his eyes again and rocked on the balls of his feet, still holding Star close. "Whatcha gonna do 'bout Richy?"

"Jen is already keeping an eye on him." Ronnie turned and rolled past them, going over Lobo's toe on the way.

"So that's where she went." Con rubbed his eyes. "Airman's been driving everyone nuts since she left."

"Airman drives everyone nuts. Period." Ronnie stopped next to him. "That's why Jen asked me for something else to do. We thought that playing undercover bodyguard to the CEO of Waynecorp would be a relaxing holiday."

"So that's the tall brunet he's been seen with." Vendea chuckled. "I thought she looked familiar."

"Wonder what the Martian Manhunter would've thought of his great-granddaughter going out with Bruce Wayne's great-great-grandson?" mused Con.

"He would not have minded," said Prudence as she returned. "Master Bruce, on the other hand..."

"Yeah." Con grimaced. "So what's the plan again?"

"Uncle Lobo will come out with Robin and I on patrol. You'll go back to Metropolis and do your usual," said Ronnie, her eyes straying toward Prudence as a savory smell began to fill the air.

"And I'll stay on call," added Vendea.

"Yes." Ronnie smiled at her.

"I smell dead cow." Lobo sniffed appreciatively.

"Gork," said Clark, wrinkling his nose.

"Yum!" countered his step-grandfather. "Can't wait ta tear inta it."

"I'm afraid you're going to have to," said Prudence apologetically.

Ronnie glanced toward the little red light that blinked in the corner of the window. "Bat signal."

"w00t!" said Clark.

Ronnie chuckled and headed toward the Cave, hearing Lobo grumble as he fell in behind her.


	4. Chapter 3

Once more, I don't own the guys you recognize. Thanks for the reviews, Esther-Channah, I hope that your questions will be answered as the story progresses.

-A note on Blight bomb: a chemical weapon that totally destroys a victim's nervous system.

Anyway, back to my happy Mary-Sueing.

God bless!

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**Chapter 3**

Batman stood and stared impassively at the man who stood next to the special spotlight, arms wrapped around himself against the chill of the spring night.

"I'll distract him." Robin lifted into the air and flew past the watcher in a puff of wind.

Batman followed, settling down behind the Commissioner moments before he turned back.

"Sheesh!" He jumped. "That's not fair."

Batman just stared at him, not turning as Robin landed on the parapet behind her.

"He struck again." David sighed and rubbed his face with a shaking hand. "A senior's residence. No survivors."

Batman gave no sign that she'd even heard, only took a recorded chip from a hidden compartment on her suit and held it out to him.

"What's this?" He took it and turned it over on his palm.

"Information on the killer," said the emotionless voice.

David brightened fractionally. "I knew you'd find something."

Batman paused and studied his body language, then felt a surge of sympathy as she understood the slumped shoulders and absent expression. "Your grandmother."

David flinched, his face going blank. "Yeah."

"I'm sorry."

"Thanks." He put the chip in his pocket. "You wanna go look at the scene?"

"No." She didn't need to. As soon as Lobo got a lock on Hormah they'd have him.

David glanced at her in surprise, but didn't argue.

"The chip contains information about a murder that the perp committed twenty seven years ago." Batman turned to look out over the city as the roar of a motorcycle reached her suit sensors.

"Who was the victim?"

"There was more than one," said Batman grimly, turning back to watch his eyes widen in understanding.

"The Waynes. I should have seen the similarities!" He slapped himself in the forehead, then frowned. "That's a long time to stay silent. Are you sure it's not just a copycat?"

"No. But I turned up a string of unsolved murders in Argentina. Same M.O. Nerve gas and total destruction of the surrounding area." Batman eyed a shadow on a neighboring rooftop. "They all happened between 20-- and 20--."

David nodded, then turned and frowned toward the shadow himself as a slight sound reached them. "Watch out. Fangirl."

Batman watched on her peripheral screens as the girl crept closer with exaggerated caution, finally jumping the narrow space between buildings to totter up to her in what she supposed was supposed to be a sultry manner.

"Kid, go home," said David in disgust.

The girl ignored him, smiling coyly up at Batman from underneath a 'bat' shaped mask that did very little to conceal her identity.

Batman took in the thigh-high black boots with the gleaming metal stiletto heels, the cheap nylon cape, and the scanty black costume that left little to the imagination. "You heard the man."

The girl frowned slightly, but then resumed the smile and ran one gleaming polished nail along the arm of the Bat suit. "But I can help you."

"No." Batman stepped away from her. "This isn't a children's game. Go home now."

"I'm not a child," she purred, reaching out again.

There was a flash of motion and a scream of terror as she suddenly found herself dangling over a twenty story drop by one wrist.

"This. Isn't. A. Game." Batman shook her with each word, then let go of her briefly.

She screamed again and blubbered hysterically. "Pull me up! Pull me up!"

Batman gave her another shake and did so, dumping her in a heap at David's feet before fading from sight.

"You okay, kid?" David knelt next to her.

"He was supposed to save me!" she sobbed pitifully.

David sighed and wrapped her cape around her, then lifted her into his arms and carried her toward the door. "He did."

--

Batman reached over and shut off the forgotten Bat signal, then turned to look at Robin as he came to hover at eye level with her. "You're giving away my position."

He grinned and poked her helmet in the nose, then zipped away.

Batman chuckled and faded back into sight before lifting off herself. "You find anything, Lobo?"

"No," his voice was a disgusted growl in her earphone. "How 'bout you?"

She landed next to him. "Only a misguided child in a cape."

"Another one?" said a lilting brogue over their coms. "Maybe if ye fill the office 'o Batgirl ye wouldnae hae so many, laddie."

"Watchman," said Batman impassively. "You were gone yesterday."

"Family matters," he said jovially. "And don't ye go ignorin' me suggestion."

"They'd just make up different names." Lobo threw his cigar over the edge of the roof.

"Ahh, that's true." Watchman fell into a thoughtful silence.

"Did you find anything?" Robin impudently tossed the smoking butt back at Lobo.

"Nae," said Watchman heavily. "Naught that ye didnae already know. I was callin' tae let ye know Silver's lookin' for ye."

"I see that." Batman watched as a figure in a shimmering grey Bat suit walked toward them over the rooftop.

"Told ye ye'd find 'im before I did, Silver." Watchman's channel went dead.

"Batman, Robin." The man in grey nodded to them. "Lobo. You're back."

"No &$, Sherlock," he growled, narrowing one eye.

"Silver Bat." Batman inclined her head slightly toward the man who'd watched over Gotham and Bludhaven till she was old enough to take the mantle. "What do you want?"

He grinned briefly under his cowl, but it faded quickly. "Someone is killing my people and trashing the 'Haven."

"Bastich gets around." Lobo scowled.

"You knew?" Silver Bat stepped away from him unconsciously.

"Yes. We're on it." Batman watched Robin do a string of backflips across the rooftop.

Silver Bat nodded. "Need any help?"

Batman shook her head. "Stay off the case."

His lips drew into an angry line. "He's working in my city."

"And he's throwing flechetts that pierced this suit," she countered sharply.

He paused and bowed his head, then looked up, the eyes of his cowl reflecting light. "I won't abandon the 'Haven. I let you have Gotham because I recognized that suit and the people you work with, but Bludhaven's my responsibility." He turned in a swirl of silver cape and jumped over the edge.

"Frag brain." Lobo leaned over to watch him go, idly revving his bike.

"Would you leave something of yours if someone threatened to kill you?" Batman turned to glance at him.

"Nope." He grinned and drove off the roof, roaring away between the buildings and leaving a trail of hastily lit windows and curses in his wake.

"So now what do we do?" asked Robin from where he sat cross-legged in mid-air, munching on something.

"Now we patrol." She checked the suit's fuel cells and shot off into the sky.

"w00t!" Robin zipped after her.


	5. Chapter 4

"Hey, Dave, let's blow this joint."

David shook his head without looking away from the dance floor. "No chance, Gordo."

"None 'a these rich chicks wanna dance with a cop." His best friend, Detective Gordon Montoya, complained quietly, swirling his martini in one hand.

"Maybe if you weren't so infamous." David cocked an eye at him. "How can a black belt at Capoeira be that much of a toe-stomper?"

Gordon scowled, then looked hopeful as a young lovely paused to take in his dark eyes and broad shoulders.

The girl smiled at him, then turned and walked toward the huge wall banner that announced the fourteenth annual Gotham Orphan's Society Easter ball.

Gordon sighed. "Too young. I may be an old bachelor, but I'm an old bachelor with morals."

David chuckled. "I wondered why I hung out with you. Guess that's it."

"Nah." Gordon snagged another martini from a passing tray. "You hang out with me to continue the long tradition of friendship between the Montoyas and the Bullocks."

"Long tradition?" David wrinkled his nose as the band started playing a slow dance.

"Hey, our families've been hanging out since Jim Gordon had your job," said Gordon, tugging on his tie. "That was a long time ago. They actually made cops drive ground cars and expected them to get places in time."

David chuckled. "Well, it looks like the tradition's coming to an end, 'cause it's just us 'old bachelors' left." He paused as he caught sight of something on the other side of the dance floor.

Gordon's smile faded. "Yeah... Steph was gonna say yes."

"I know. God had other ideas, I guess." David set his drink down, remembering Gordon's younger sister and her bright smile.

"Stinking drunk driver." Gordon blinked and looked toward the bar.

"Don't do it." David turned back and caught his wrist. "Stick with the soft stuff."

"I am." Gordon stuck his hands in his pockets, head bowed.

"Excuse me." The voice was young and full of concern. "Is something wrong?"

David started and looked down, his eyes meeting the bright blue ones of a boy of maybe six. "No. Nothing's wrong."

"Aren't you a little young to be up this late?" Gordon hunkered down to talk to the child.

"I'm here with Ronnie. We always go to this ball together." The boy raised one eyebrow and smiled slightly, then offered a hand. "I'm Clark Kent."

"Gord Montoya." Gordon shook, looking nonplussed. "This is my buddy, Dave Freeman."

The police Commissioner." Clark's smile widened into a cheerful grin. "I've seen you on TV."

"Yeah?" David smiled back uncertainly, wondering how old the boy really was.

"Yeah! You work with Batman!"

Gordon laughed and looked up at David. "I knew it couldn't be your heroic exploits."

Clark gave him a slight frown, then looked up brightly as a woman stopped next to them. "Miss Free, is Ronnie looking for me?"

"Yes." She smiled as Gordon straightened hastily and blinked at the realization that she was nearly a head taller than him. "But you could introduce me to your friends before you go."

Clark's grin came back full force. "Sure. This is Gordon Montoya and David Freeman. Mr. Montoya, Commissioner Freeman, this is Diana Free."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Diana smiled, her dark eyes fixed on Gordon's.

"Yeah," he said dazedly. "Uh, would you like to dance?"

Diana winced, one hand coming up to fiddle with the bodice of her dark green silk dress. "I don't think you want to do that. I tend to step on toes."

"That's okay, so do I." He offered her his arm and an engaging smile.

Diana laughed and lay a strong but shapely hand on his arm. "Let's go cripple one another then."

David blinked as he watched them stop on the dance floor, dark heads bowed together as they tried to figure out what they were doing, then looked down and discovered that he'd been totally abandoned.

Shaking his head slowly, he glanced around and then made his way to where Clark stood in the shadow of the wall drapes, his hand laying protectively on that of the woman in the electric wheelchair next to him. The woman herself seemed to be hiding, not from fear, but rather from a desire to quietly observe everything that was going on. She wore a simple black dress with long sleeves and a skirt that reached her knees, and a pair of jeweled sandals that showed off rather pretty feet. The colour of the dress contrasted gently with the strange shimmer of her skin, which combined with a pair of warm grey eyes to give her the look of some exotic fairy creature from one of the prints that Steph had collected.

-Shimmer...- He frowned, then blinked as his mind made the connection. "I didn't know you came to gigs like this, Miss Grayson."

She looked up with a shy smile. "This cause is dear to my heart. Having Gotham's most famous recluse attend the ball brings more help for the kids."

"Ah." He glanced at Clark, wondering how the kid could look that dignified and sober with that much mischief shining in his eyes.

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"You're terrible." Ronnie looked at her ward with a chuckle as he came to stand next to her.

"Di's happy," he said contentedly. "So's Detective Montoya."

"You're too young to play matchmaker."

He shrugged and put his hand on the one that lay on the arm of her wheelchair. "They're happy. I don't like seeing Di look so lonely all the time. Detective Montoya's a good guy."

"Yes, he is." Ronnie watched as he nearly wiped out and Diana caught him.

"Here comes the Commish." Clark fell silent as David stopped in front of her.

"I didn't know you came to gigs like this, Miss Grayson." He gave her a quizzical smile.

"This cause is dear to my heart," she said, musing at how different he looked in a tuxedo. "Having Gotham's most famous recluse attend the ball brings more help for the kids."

"Ah."

She watched as he glanced at Clark, taking in the way his green tie brought out the colour of his eyes and accented his copper skin. -I wonder what his curls would feel like? Yike, did I just think that? Oh, I've been watching Uncle Lobo and Aunt Star too much.-

Then she realized that she was staring and that he was looking back quizzically.

"Sorry." She dropped her eyes, feeling her cheeks warm.

"It's alright." He glanced at her drink. "So you're a patron of the Orphan's Society?"

"I'm the founder." She looked at the drink herself, feeling the usual awkwardness at being around non-family rise up inside her.

"Oh." He pulled a chair over and set it slightly in front of and facing her. "That's really cool."

She glanced up curiously as he sat down. "Thank you... You spend a lot of time around people in wheelchairs?"

"My grandmother used one," he said softly, face clouding slightly.

"I forgot." She could have kicked herself. "I'm sorry. I saw what happened in the news."

"It's alright. She's in a better place" He reached up to finger a tiny cross on his lapel.

"She was a believer." Ronnie felt Clark lean against her shoulder comfortingly.

"In Jesus. Yeah." He smiled slightly without looking up. "He was part of everything she did. My dad used to joke that she lived, ate, and slept the Lord."

Ronnie glanced at Clark, not sure what to say. "She sounds like a good person."

David snorted with laughter. "I used to doubt that when I was a kid. I don't think I ever got a cookie before dinner. Just a lot of sore knuckles."

Ronnie chuckled despite herself. "She sounds like my butler."

"Yeah?" He looked up with interest.

"Yes. I remember one time my uncle came to argue the no snacks rule and she gave him a spinning snapkick to the head."

"Ouch." David whistled. "Violent."

Ronnie blinked, realizing that she'd said too much. "Er. He can be rather..."

"Pig-headed?" offered Clark innocently.

"Yes." She quirked an eyebrow at him and fell silent, wishing she could escape and go home.

"Honorary uncle, right?" David scratched his head. "I've got one like that. My mom had to pull her gun on him to make him get away from the TV after his team lost the Superbowl one time."

Ronnie blinked again, feeling glad that Lobo had never taken an interest in Terran sports. "When is your grandmother's funeral?"

"She didn't want one." He glanced over his shoulder as laughter came from the dance floor. "They cremated her body this morning."

"Oh." Ronnie frowned at her drink again, then looked up as camera flashes went off and saw Gordon trying to help Diana fix her hair.

David chuckled as his friend got a hairclip on the fingers and yelped. "This is the happiest I've seen Gord in years."

"Oh dear." Ronnie watched as Diana's hair tumbled down again, feeling mortified at all the attention the pair were drawing to themselves.

David turned back to her. "What's wrong?"

"They're..." Ronnie fought off the urge to hide her face as Gordon pretended to read the clip its rights, looking pleased at Diana's laughter.

"They're gonna be on a lotta newssites tomorrow," said Clark, grinning at their antics.

"Oh dear," agreed Ronnie, feeling herself blush in sympathetic embarrassment, though Diana and Gordon seemed oblivious of everything but one another.

"Hey." David put his hand over the one that held her glass. "It isn't bothering them. Not everyone appreciates the comfort of the shadows."

Ronnie barely heard him. She was transfixed but the way her hand seemed to be tingling with electricity so that the hair on her arms stood on end. -His hand...it feels so...-

"Are you cold?" He took it away.

"I...what?" She looked up, face flaming now.

"You're shivering," he said gently, his eyes locking with hers.

-Breath,- she thought. -Breath...how can eyes be that beautiful? No! Stop it!-

She looked away, pulling the Bat persona over herself like a sheild. "Excuse me, please. I think I need to visit the powder room."

"Uh...yeah. Yeah, you want me to hold your drink?" David cleared his throat.

"Thank you." She handed it over, then turned her chair and fled.

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"Ronnie doesn't get out very often," said Clark apologetically. "She's really nice."

"Huh?" David blinked and stared at him blankly.

"You're blushing too." Clark's eyebrows went up.

David blinked again and knocked back the drink, then rubbed his face. "Yeah."

"You like her, don't you?" Clark grinned widely, eyes dancing.

"I just met her," growled David, then looked at the boy's crestfallen expression and relented. "Yeah, I do." He lifted his hand and clenched it gently, remembering how hers had felt inside it. "She's beautiful. But someone like her wouldn't want anything to do with someone like me."

"Sure she would." Clark gave a happy little bounce, then pulled a card out of his pocket and offered it to him hopefully. "She doesn't like meat or icecream, or anything sweet. And she doesn't really like cut flowers, 'cause they die. But she really likes going through gardens and stuff. And she watches 'Cat's Eye' 'n 'Larryboy' 'n 'Epsilon V'."

David stared at him. "Are you playing matchmaker?"

Clark tried very hard to look totally innocent, but the flush on his cheeks ruined the effect. "Um...excuse me, I-gotta-go-the-bathroom!"

David watched him scamper away, then looked down at the card in his hand and felt surprised that he'd taken it.

He shook his head, then frowned and blinked away deja-vu as something in the way Clark had spoken poked at his mind.

"Hey, Dave, you alright?" Gordon stopped next to him, one hand wrapped in a napkin.

"Yeah," said David absently. "Just a little confused."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I'm so confused." Ronnie rubbed her face with shaking hands.

"What happened?" asked the tall brunet sitting on the counter.

"He touched my hand and it was like my nervous system was being overloaded or something. The life support module even kicked in because I was having trouble catching my breath." Ronnie slumped against the backrest, feeling slightly dazed.

Jen J'ones chuckled. "It's about time."

Ronnie quirked an eyebrow at her.

"It's just a crush." Jen smiled at her encouragingly. "Lots of good feelings and a slight distraction when the guy's not around."

"I can't afford to be distracted right now," growled Ronnie. "I just found out that this case has extended to Bludhaven. You have to think of some way to get Rich away. A holiday."

Jen shook her head. "No chance."

"What do you mean? You've implanted suggestions before."

"Yes, I have. But Rich has important business that he can't leave right now," said Jen softly.

"What business? Why can't Jono take care of it?" demanded Ronnie. "He's Rich's right hand man, he can do anything Rich can."

"Not this." Jen shook her head.

"Why not?"

"Why did your uncle decide to keep Rich in the dark about his other job? And why didn't Prudence tell him after everyone died?" Jen asked evenly. "He's descended from Bruce Wayne. Shouldn't he have gotten your position?"

Ronnie frowned at the seeming change in topic, her mind trying to figure out the connection. "Prudence said that he hated the people who did that sort of job. I can remember her trying to bring it up the time he came to see me in the hospital and him brushing it off. She decided to keep it from him after that so that he wouldn't lose respect for Uncle James."

Jen idly poked a finger into the marble of the counter top, sheilding the action from the security cameras with her body. -Did you know that the last Nightwing had taken on a junior partner?-

Ronnie flinched at the strange sensation of someone else's thoughts in her mind. "Don't do that."

"You didn't. I bet Prudence didn't either."

"No. I didn't," said Ronnie impatiently. "Where are you..." Her mind made the connection and she blinked. "Frag."

-Silver Bat,- affirmed Jen softly, and Ronnie was too stunned to protest. -I found out when I ghosted through the back of his closet one night after he got out of the apartment without me knowing.-

Ronnie stared at her.

"I was with him the night you tried to tell him to stay away from the case." Jen glanced up as another woman came into the bathroom and paused to look in the mirror.

Ronnie leaned her forehead on her hand, feeling tears running down her cheeks. "I was trying to protect him."

"He knows. He's not mad." Jen slid off the counter and came to kneel next to her and hug her gently.

"I feel so stupid. Why didn't he say anything?" Ronnie lifted her head and let it fall against the back of her chair as the other woman turned and went into a stall.

"You were happy with how things were, and that made him happy." Jen handed her a tissue. "He knows you're an adult now, but he still sees you as that cute little toddler he's holding in the picture on his mantle."

"I used to adore him," Ronnie remembered. "It hurt when he never came to see me while they were rebuilding my nervous system."

"He was a little busy taking care of two cities at night and trying to play a normal teenager during the day," said Jen gently. "And he didn't want to make you wonder why he came and your parents didn't."

Ronnie sighed, her eyes on her days at Star Labs. Most of what she could remember was Lobo telling her stories and holding her, though there were a few memories of Con, Vendea, and Star. And at least one birthday party. "No one told me they were dead till I was seven." -By then I was used to them being gone.-

She rubbed her eyes and looked at her fingers, longing for home.

"Your makeup's fine." Jen smiled. "Now you'd better get back out there before Clark gets bored."

"I take it Rich knows about you?" Ronnie reached for her purse.

"I told him after I found out his secret." Jen stood and looked into the mirror. "I thought it would save suspicion when he found out on his own. He's as hard as you to keep secrets from. That bimbo image is all an act."

Ronnie quirked a smile. "That's good to know." She found the tiny sculpted case and took out her phone.

"What are you doing?" Jen turned and frowned at her.

"I'm getting Clark and going home." Ronnie flipped the phone open.

Jen snatched it. "Oh no you're not. There are two men out there waiting to dance with you."

"I can't dance." Ronnie frowned, wondering what her friend had been drinking.

"Technicalities." Jen steered her back out to the ballroom, then abandoned her.

"Jen, you still have my phone..." She sighed and leaned back, her eyes going involuntarily to the dancers, who were swaying to a slow number.

"Do you want to dance?" David was back, going to one knee to be at eye level.

"I can't stand," she said, avoiding his eyes.

"Does your skirt have a back?" he persisted.

"Yes." She curled her toes and bit her lip, wondering where Clark had gone.

Strong arms suddenly scooped her out of her chair.

"What are you doing?" she gasped, face flaming again.

"Put your arms around my neck." He shifted her so that she was upright, feet touching the floor.

"I don't want to!" She hid her face in the front of his jacket.

"Shh." She felt him jerk a glance toward the dance floor. "Someone'll notice!"

The nervousness in his voice reassured her somewhat, as did the mental poke from Jen.

"Why are you doing this?" She looked up at him, still gripping his lapels.

"I guess that'll do." He put and arm around her waist to support her and began moving to the music.

She blinked at his serious expression, then sighed wearily and leaned against him, moving her feet and trying to support a little of her own weight.

He sighed too. "This isn't so bad."

"No." She glanced down at her feet, then gave him a wry look. "You were playing 'Truth or Dare' with Clark, weren't you?"

"Yeah." His cheeks darkened.

"He wouldn't really carry out his threat." She smiled, fascinated by the blush.

"Well he bluffed well enough to fool me," said David grimly. "And..."

"You wanted to do this anyway," she finished for him, feeling her own cheeks bloom again as their eyes met.

"Yeah," he muttered. "I did."

She let her head rest against his chest, feeling herself fall into the music. -God...should I stop? I don't have time for this right now. But it feels so good...-

"So, Clark says you like 'Epsilon V'," murmured David.

"Mm hm. The attention to detail is fascenating, and I can get into the storyline without worrying about seeing something I don't want to." She let go of one lapel and moved her hand to his shoulder.

"What did you think of the fight between Biddy and Kelly?" He shifted the arm around her waist slightly to compensate for her change in balance.

"Interesting mixture of fighting moves," she said absently. "Brazilian dance-fighting has become fairly popular, but you don't often see the stick fighting or the pure Capoeira moves. And Kelly blended them beautifully with the Love of Peace kung fu."

"Is that what that was? I knew it wasn't Shao Lin. But do you think it was realistic to have her win with it agaisnt illigal kick-boxing moves and a steel bar?"

Ronnie nodded. "Oh yes. I've heard that the fight wasn't staged. Apparently they had two variations of the script, one for either outcome. And I've read an account of a young woman using a similar blend of disciplines against a Pain Child and bringing him down."

"Really?" David looked down at her, face full of interest.

She nodded, forgetting her awkwardness.

"Wow. I'll have to tell Gordo. He's got Capoeira and Ti Kwon Do."

Ronnie turned to look at where the tall detective sat in the middle of the dance floor gripping his toes. "He needs some lessons from Penny Kent."

"What does she teach?" He paused as the song came to an end and the band shifted to another slow number.

"A discipline of her own devising," said Ronnie, laying her cheek against his chest again and closing her eyes. "It focuses on balance, coordination, and an awareness of exactly what your body was created to do."

"I'll have to tell him." David fell silent and she felt content to leave him so.

"Excuse me, mind if I cut in?"

Ronnie turned to scowl at the intruder, then blinked. "Rich!"

He grinned down at her, his blue eyes dancing. "Dance with me? Clark's run off with Jen."

Ronnie hesitated and looked to David.

He smiled. "It's alright. I should probably get some sleep before work. I...is it okay if I call?"

"Yes. I'd like that." She felt herself blushing again and lowered her eyes in mortification.

He brushed the curve of her jaw fleetingly with his fingertips and handed her off to Rich, then walked away.

"The Police Commissioner?" asked her cousin gently.

"It was Clark's idea." Ronnie turned to see if she could catch a last glimps of him, then looked up at Rich. "Jen told me."

His grin faltered slighlty. "Ah."

"I'm sorry," she said softly, looking down.

He shrugged and swirled her across the floor as the strains of the slow waltz lilted around them. "Nothing to be sorry about. I was glad when you got to join the family business."

"Prudence thought you hated it."

"I was trying to keep Dad from finding out. He... You know what happened to Grace?"

Ronnie nodded, familiar with the story of the last Batgirl and her tragic end. "He didn't want you out there, did he?"

"Not really. Not as a kid, anyway. So I went and found Uncle John and showed him what I could do. He knew I was going to be out there anyway, so he took me on and trained me."

"I got your dad's job, and you got mine's." She chuckled. "How did you get past Prudence? I know she's run into you a couple of times."

"Scent masker. I always wear it." He glanced up sharply at the skylight.

"It's just Batfreak, playing watchdog." Ronnie sagged suddenly as her side started to ache. "I have to sit down."

Rich scooped her up and carried her to her chair. "I thought you ran the admirers off."

"She's not an admirer. I had to track her down before I even saw her for the first time, and then I had to bribe her to join the team." Ronnie tried to sit up straight, but then conceded defeat and slumped wearily. "Jen has my phone."

He handed her his. She was so tired that she had to try twice before it could understand what number she wanted it to dial.

"Master Richard?" Prudence sounded worried.

"Not Rich," said Ronnie. "Just me."

"Miss Veronica." The concern changed to chagrin. "I'm afraid I'll be several minutes. Master Lobo elected to sample some of the cleaning products."

"Not again." Ronnie bit back tired laughter. "How sick was he?"

"He's not ill at the moment, though that may yet occur," said Prudence wearily. "At the moment he has passed out after becoming drunk as a lord on a mixture of drain cleaner and shoe polish."

"Oh dear." Ronnie put a hand over her mouth and fought the urge to be sick herself. "Why wasn't he out searching?"

"I would imagine that this was an expression of his frustration at another unsuccessful stint of it." Prudence sighed.

Ronnie sighed too, then glanced up as Rich tapped her shoulder and gave her a questioning look.

"What's wrong?" he mouthed.

(Pru's still at home), she finger-spelled back.

"Tell her I'll drive you."

(What about Jen?) Ronnie frowned.

"She brought her own car. She can bring Clark."

(Clark can fly. He needs to burn off some energy.) Her hand cramped and she shook it.

"Miss Veronica?" asked Prudence.

"Sorry, I was talking to Rich. He says that he'll dive me home," said Ronnie.

"Very well. I shall have your tea ready when you arrive."

"Thanks, Prudence. I'll see you in a few minutes." She closed the phone and handed it back to Rich.

"Is that safe?" he asked softly, slipping it absently into his pocket. "Clark going alone?"

She nodded. "You can't see an Eldar in the moonlight unless he wants you to."

"Okay. I'll let Jen know."

Ronnie watched him go, then leaned back and wondered where Diana had gone. The gregarious young warrior would think nothing of staying up all night, which would make things extremely unpleasant on the Watchtower in the morning when lack of sleep caused her to try and put Airman through walls.

-Lord, defend him,- she thought ruefully. -And please help him to learn the meaning of tact and humility.-

"Ready?" Rich handed her her phone.

"Yes." She sighed in relief. "Let's go."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Clark was already home as she drove through the front door. Rich looked up to where the boy hung upside down from the chandelier in the front hall and raised an eyebrow. "Bat practise?"

Ronnie sighed and shook her head. "Too much punch. He's got Con's tolerance for sugar. Clark, get down from there before Prudence sees you."

He swung a couple times and went into a series of somersaults, landing lightly on his feet.

"She already did," he said thoughtfully.

"And she didn't tell you to come down?" Rich's face showed his shock.

"She said it wasn't good for the wiring," said Clark, leaning against Ronnie's shoulder. "She also told me that she'd heard stories about Dick Grayson swinging on the chandeliers."

"The first Robin." Rich's eyes twinkled.

Clark blinked and looked at Ronnie.

"He knows, chum." She smiled at his surprise. "He's known all along."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Clark scowled at him. "I nearly hurt myself when you were here last Christmas!"

Rich laughed out loud. "That wind in the study was you?"

"Yes." Clark shook his head. "I've never changed so fast in my life."

"That's why we keep telling you not to bring your costume upstairs," said Ronnie, biting her cheek.

"I nearly got caught like that once," said Rich, still chuckling. "That's why I added the secret room."

"Huh?" Clark stared. "Secret room?"

"Yeah, every masked hero needs their own Fortress of Solitude." Rich frowned slightly at the boy's blank look. "You don't know yet."

"Know what?"

"You didn't hear Ronnie and I talking at the ball?" Rich looked surprised.

"I don't listen in on private conversations," said Clark indignantly. "I don't look through people's masks, either, so you're just gonna haveta tell me who you are 'n quit dropping hints I don't understand."

"I'm sorry, bud." Rich frowned again. "I'm Silver Bat."

Shattering crockery drew all their eyes to where Prudence stood staring at Rich in utter shock, a puddle of herbal tea spreading from the broken mug at her feet.

"You are Silver Bat, Master Richard?" she managed.

He nodded.

Prudence closed her eyes and shook her head, cheeks flushing. "I... My goodness. I... Oh dear!"

"It's alright, Pru," Rich said quickly. "I knew about Ronnie, too."

"A proper mess I've made of things," muttered Prudence. "What would Alfred say?"

Rich shrugged. "From what I've heard of the old man, probably something bland. He didn't seem to get worked up about much."

"No." The ageless woman looked down at the spilled tea. "He didn't."

"I know why you did it," said Rich softly. "I wish that everyone had trusted me more, but..." He shrugged. "What's done is done. Let's just take it from here."

"As you say, Master Richard," said Prudence, smiling slightly. "But you should be homeward bound unless you intend to stay the night. You have a full day ahead of you, unless I am mistaken."

He chuckled and stepped aside as the sweeper beeped at him imperiously. "Yes, ma'am."

She shooed the little flat robot aside with the toe of one polished shoe. "I have a favor to ask, young sir."

"Sure, Prudence, what is it?" He paused and turned back.

"Since I am aware of your other identity, could you discontinue use of that herbal concoction? The high catnip content makes it exceedingly hard to concentrate after our paths have crossed."

He laughed. "Alright. I knew it would distract you and lessen the chances of your recognizing me, but I didn't realize that it would affect you that strongly. How much of the feline physiology do you have?"

Prudence quirked an eyebrow. "Quite a bit, I'm afraid." She glanced at Ronnie, who was silently taking in the exchange, then shook her right hand slightly so that a thin gold bracelet fell into sight. Unfastening it, she set it on a nearby accent table and looked up at him with eyes that now bore slit pupils.

"Wow." He blinked.

Prudence reached up to touch one delecately pointed ear, sharp teeth showing in her smile. "You knew of the advanced rate of healing and the metal-plated skeleton?"

"Not the skeleton," he said thoughtfully. "Is that natural?"

"Nothing of my being is natural, Master Richard." Prudence replaced the bracelet and resumed her customary appearance. "I was created in a laboratory as a prototype covert operative. Untill Alfred took me in hand I did not even have a name."

He nodded. "Nightwing told me about that."

Ronnie was suddenly distracted from the conversation as Clark began a slow topple floorward. She made a quick grab and caught him by the jacket, but then gasped as the effort nearly pulled her out of her chair.

"I've got him." Rich lifted the sleeping child gently. "Ronnie, you should be in bed."

"I know." She watched as Prudence took Clark and offered to ready a guest room. Rich refused, saying he had too much to do the next day.

"Drive carefully," she said as he bent to kiss her forehead. "Those curves can be murder to navigate when you're tired."

He chuckled and glanced at his watch. "It's only three in the morning, and the night was nice and relaxing. I'm not tired yet."

Ronnie just smiled at him and turned toward the elevator, her own eyelids beginning to lose the fight against gravity.

The hall was silent and edged in shadow as she rolled down it, the dimmed lights flaring to a brighter radience as seh approached and fading again slowly, as though in disapointmen, after she had passed.

Her room was as it always was when she got home, save for the absence of chamomile tea scent. Ronnie changed and brushed her teeth, then headed for the bed, only to freeze as something on the balcony caught her eye. She studied it for a moment with her peripheral vision, then relaxed. "You're not with Uncle Lobo?"

"Nah," said Star from where she crouched on the railing gazing out over the moonlit grounds. "Smell 'a the stuff he drank makes me wanna hurl."

Ronnie frowned and rolled out onto the balcony, stopping behind her honorary aunt. "Are you ill?"

Star chuckled, a soft sound full of mystery and satisfaction. "Nope. Just knocked up."

Ronnie's mouth fell open. "You're pregnant? But I thought you were too old?"

"So was Sarah." Star shifted slightly. "Guess Jesus wants another little Lobo runnin' around."

"Does Uncle Lobo know?" Ronnie looked up at the slender, battlescarred woman, feeling a thrill of wonder and excitement at the thought of a tiny version of Narmo.

"Nuh uh. I ain't tellin' 'im till she's big enough ta kick 'im."

"Why?" Ronnie frowned. "Don't you think he'll be happy?"

"More like scared spitless." Star turned to face her, shifting so that she sat on the rail with one foot hooked through the bars. "I nearly died with Narmo."

"I didn't know that." Ronnie sat back, still frowning. "What happened?"

"Some dipweed had shot Lobo with this ray that was 'sposed ta age 'im. It didn' work, but it messed up his DNA. Narmo grew ta term in a couple weeks. Some people on Karaloria got 'im out 'n made sure he was fed till he'd stopped growin', then stopped the agin'." Star chuckled. "He was a week old when 'is old man had ta explain why he couldn' go 'round kissin' our friends' neice."

"That sounds like him." Ronnie chuckled as she thought of her honorary cousin. "Though I've never seen him do more than look."

"No. Clara's his starlight. Maybe if she'd grown up I'd have grandkids other'n Clark, but he's happy bein' her Ada instead." Star drew up a knee and leaned against it, looking wistful.

"Yes. They repaired Uncle Lobo's DNA, then." Ronnie shivered slightly in the cool night air and drow her robe more closely around her.

"Oh yeah." Star's face gleamed softly as she lifted her head to look down at her. "You better hit the sack. Pru'll have give me whatfor fer keepin' ya out here."

Ronnie paused and glanced into her room, then turned and rolled quickly inside. Lifting herself into bed pulled on her stitches and set her nerves to firing off false pain messages.

She groaned and closed her eyes, knowing that sleep was going to be a long time coming.

"Ya shoulda asked fer help." Star knelt next to her on the bed, frowing in concern.

"I realize that now." Ronnie blinked away tears and pressed her hand to the wound, feeling her silk chemis grow damp with sweat.

Star touched her forehead gently with cool fingers. "Try 'n relax."

"I am." Ronnie gasped and bit her lip as the sensation of fire played over her skin.

Star scowled in sympathy and mumured softly in Eldari, pushing Ronnie's hair away from her forehead. "Easy, Lotsi. Shhh. How was the ball?"

Ronnie felt an unexpected smile curve her lips.

"That good?" Star sounded surprised. "What happened?"

"I danced." Ronnie sighed as the memory made her stomach flutter with butterflies. "Clark dared David Freeman to dance with me." Her smile widened.

"Sweet," breathed Star. "You had a lotta fun. I kin tell."

Ronnie felt her cheeks darken again as she remembered the feel of his hand over hers.

"Oh ho!" chortled Star. "Wait, David Freeman? Ain't that the Commish?"

Ronnie nodded mutely, turning her head to hide her flaming face from the sharp-eyed Eldari woman.

Star fell silent, her hand moving down to gently cover the one that Ronnie held over her stitches.

"He's a lot better lookin' than old Harv was," she said at last. "Got a better opinion of the Bats, too."

"It doesn't really matter." Ronnie gasped as what felt like a jolt of electricity went through her body. "I don't have time for men. I need to focus on my job."

"Lovin' a guy don't mean ya can't do yer job, Lotsi. Lookit Kendell, her 'n J'onni've ben married fer awhile now." Star took her hand away and shook it thoughtfully.

"J'onni's known she's Dragon Fire since they were both kids. I have a secret identity. It wouldn't work..." Ronnie paused to poke at the stitches. "Jesus just healed this, didn't He?"

"That or somethin' else." Star examined her hand and then turned to give Ronnie a sharp look. "If he's the one yer havin' a secret identity won't matter. Jesus'll work it all out. He always does."

Ronnie made a non-committal sound, her eyes closing as her nerves stopped their jangling and her muscles relaxed. She felt her aunt move off the bed and heard her order the lights off, then felt more than heard the door open and close as Star slipped away.

She started to lift her head to look after her, but she was asleep before she could complete the motion.


	6. Chapter 5

Ronnie didn't duck as a panicked bat flew low over her head.

"Clark, chasing bats bears very little resemblance to your English assignment," she said without looking up from her swift typing.

"Aww!" She heard him drop into his seat.

"You can go upstairs and work with Prudence if the Cave is too full of distractions." She hit the enter key and watched classified data scroll down the screen.

"It's not!" he said quickly. "I'll work. Don't make me leave."

She nodded without turning, biting her lip at the sadness in his voice, then frowned quizzically at what she was reading. -The CIA's only now figured that out? They're getting slack again.-

"Telephone, Miss Veronica," said Prudence over the intercom.

"I'm busy right now." Ronnie hit another button and raised both eyebrows at the picture that showed. -That's not a dangerous alien, it's a T'norg chick.-

"He said that you asked him to call." Prudence sounded stern.

"What?" Ronnie blinked, then remembered. "David. Right. Forward it to my cell?"

"As you wish," said Prudence approvingly.

Ronnie pulled the earpiece out of her cardigan pocket and hooked it to her ear. "Ronnie here."

"Hi," he said uncertainly. "I can call later, if this is a bad time."

"No, no, this is good. I was just caught up in what I was doing." She winced as thuds and a bellow came from the hollo-trainer. "Er..." A quick flick of a switch brought silence. "Sorry about that."

"No problem," he said, sounding even more uncertain. "Er...I was wondering if you were doing anything for lunch.

She shot a glance at the time readout in the corner of the monitor, then picked up a large rubbery caterpillar that was crawling across the desk and squeezed it gently. "Well, I don't think I've had any yet. What were you thinking of?"

"There's this Greek place around the corner from the station..."

"Cloe's." Her stomach clamored loud approval. "Do you want to meet there?"

"Sure. Er...about what time?"

She glanced at the stairs. "Ten minutes...that would be two thirty."

"Alright!" he said, sounding relieved. "I'll see you there."

"Yes." Ronnie disconnected, then looked up at Lobo's scowl. "Don't drip blood on my pants, I have to go out for a couple hours."

"Y' turned it off just as it was gettin' interestin'!" he growled.

"I had to take a call." Ronnie frowned as she realized the extent of the damage he'd taken. "Besides, I think you're still too hungover for that sim. I need you fit for tonight."

He growled at her and flopped into the other chair, tipping his head back to stare at the ceiling. "+#$& boring. Can't do the sim, can't shoot the bats, can't eat the stress worms..."

"You'd better not." She shook the one in her hand at him.

"Where ya goin'?" He lifted his head as she hit three keys and cleared the screen.

"Lunch with a friend." She went over to Clark and kissed him goodbye, but he was too caught up in the flow of words forming on his screen to pay much attention.

"Don't have too much fun without me," he said absently.

"I won't, Chum. Don't forget that this is an essay and not a poem."

"I won't." He grinned.

"What kinda friend?" Lobo's words leaked suspicion.

Ronnie laughed and rolled into the elevator, closing the door on his glare.

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"I'm not sure how long I'll be." Ronnie looked at the restaurant and felt her stomach quake with an avalanche of nerves as she rolled out of the car.

"I've things to do in the city, take your time," Prudence said blandly, pressing the button that would reinflate the limo's suspension.

Ronnie glanced up at her with a frown. "You don't think this is a good idea."

"On the contrary, Miss Veronica." Prudence quirked one eyebrow and closed the door. "It's good for you to get out of the house occasionally."

"Hmph." Ronnie turned the frown to the building, squirming slightly in her chair. "I don't think I can do this."

"Nonsense, Miss Veronica!" chided the butler. "You can and you will."

Ronnie's head snapped up with a Bat glare.

Prudence stared evenly back.

It was no good. Not even Lobo had ever come out the victor of a staring match against the guardian of Wayne Manor. Ronnie sighed and looked away, catching sight of David through the window. He didn't look any happier than she felt.

"Call me when you are ready to return," said Prudence gently.

Ronnie nodded and drove inside.

"Commissioner Freeman is waiting for me," she said in reply to the bouncy, dark-haired girl who came to greet her.

"Okay. Just go on in." The girl smiled at her and went to get another glass of ice water.

-Jesus, be my shield,- Ronnie prayed as she rolled over to the table by the window. -For You have not given me a spirit of fear; but of power and love and a clear mind. Perfect love casts out fear.-

David looked up ruefully over a plate of untouched flatbread and flavored oil. "I'm not so sure I'm hungry anymore."

"Butterflies?" She squeezed the stress worm under the table.

"Feels more like bats."

She blinked, not sure how to reply.

He thanked the waitress as she set the water on the table, then turned to look out the window with an absent frown.

Ronnie followed his gaze and saw an ad for the new low-G retirement community that had been opened on the latest space station. It reminded her of the destruction of the complex where his grandmother had lived.

-Not Hormah's first group kill,- she thought, her forehead furrowing slightly. -But definitely the biggest. I still can't see any pattern to his work. It's as though he's just striking randomly...-

The stress worm gave a gentle squeak of protest as she squeezed it too hard and she blinked, realizing for the first time that she still had it with her. -Oops.-

"What was that?" David pushed his chair back slightly, looking around for the source of the sound.

"A squeak," said Ronnie helpfully, wondering what to do with the worm.

"Yeah, I know that. It sounded like it came from around here." He frowned, still scanning the room.

The worm gave a happy coo.

David stopped and looked at Ronnie, whose face was blooming with colour. "Is that your stomach?"

"No." She glanced down at the little creature in her hand.

"What is it?" He raised an eyebrow.

"A stress worm," she said slowly. "A harmless alien lifeform given me by an old business associate of my father's."

"Alien?" he repeated suspiciously.

"Yes." She glanced around the nearly empty restaurant and set the pudgy green and blue caterpillar on the table, where it started crawling toward the bread.

David caught it and turned it over, still frowning.

"Squeeze it gently." Ronnie reached over and poked it on the eye, smiling slightly as it gave a funny little trill and tucked its head down.

He did so, eyebrows raising. "It's like a live stress ball."

"Only it's nice and warm, and doesn't turn black and dirty from use." Ronnie smiled.

"Who gave it to you?" David examined it closely.

"That one hatched at my house." She reached again and ran a finger over the slightly rough skin.

"They're breeding here on Earth?" David looked alarmed.

"Each one hatches with the ability to lay two eggs," said Ronnie. "Not all of them hatch."

He looked at the contented worm. "What do they eat?"

"Cereal products, but the grains have to be broken up before they can consume them. I've often wondered about their natural habitat, but I don't even know what planet they're native to."

"Maybe they were bred like this." He set it on the table and offered it a bit of bread, grinning slightly at the resultant coo.

"Maybe." She sighed. "I wish I could find out."

He grinned. "You don't like mysteries?"

"Not ones I can't solve." She scowled slightly, then picked up the worm as it crawled toward her.

He chuckled. "Me neither. And I've got a big one at work right now."

Ronnie watched his smile fade as she typed a request for two Greek salads into the order pad. "Oh? A case?"

"Yeah. You probably heard about it on TV. This guy that gasses people and then destroys everything around them."

The stress worm squeaked again and Ronnie set it back on the table before she hurt it. "I try to avoid those reports."

He blinked, then flushed. "I forgot. I'm sorry."

She shrugged and watched as he fed the worm. "It's just that watching them would serve no purpose, except perhaps to upset Clark. He's pretty sensitive."

David lifted his head and looked at her consideringly.

"What?" She cocked her head as though she didn't know what was on his mind.

"You've got beautiful eyes."

Maybe she _didn't_ know.

"Er, thank you." She dropped her gaze to the table, feeling her face heat again. "So do you."

The girl brought their salads then and set them on the table.

"Eek! What's that?" she nearly shrieked as she noticed the worm contentedly dozing under David's hand.

"A pet," he said, tucking it into his jacket pocket. "I know we shouldn't have brought it in."

The girl frowned uncertainly, as though wondering if she were brave enough to tell the police commissioner off for breaking the health codes. "Well, I guess as long as it's in your pocket it's alright."

"Thank you." He smiled slightly.

"No problem." She grinned back and walked away.

David turned an intense scrutiny onto his lunch. "Peppers."

"Trade my onions?" Ronnie offered one on her fork.

"You don't like those?" His eyebrows rose incredulously.

"Not this many."

He nodded and pushed his bowl near hers, carefully transferring pepper slices as she chased onions and added them to his salad.

Ronnie became suddenly aware of how close their faces were and gasped in surprise.

"What?" He looked up and froze as their gazes met.

-Goosebumps,- she thought absently. -Jesus, please keep my nerves from overloading...-

Then she lifted a shaking hand to her face. "I can't do this. Excuse me." She turned and headed for the door, reaching into her pocket to press the page button on her phone.

"You're leaving?" David followed.

"Yes. I'll pay my half of the tab." She stopped on the sidewalk, not looking at him.

"I'm sorry," he said, the sadness plain in his voice. "I don't know what I did, but I'm sorry."

"David, stop apologizing. I'm not offended." She hesitated, but then continued. "You're a good man; a very handsome man. And I think that it would be very easy to fall in love with you. But I can't. I have other obligations that require all my time and concentration."

She looked up at the hurt in those beautiful green eyes as the limo glided to a stop in front of her and felt her heart thud painfully. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah..." he said softly, then forced a smile. "Well, thanks...thanks for letting me know. I...guess I'd better get back to work."

"Goodbye." She rolled into the car and stared out the opposite window as Prudence fastened the restraints and closed the door.

"I take it that lunch did not go well, Miss Veronica?" The red-haired woman pulled into traffic.

"Mm," said Ronnie absently.

-What I did was the right thing. The only wise thing I could do,- she thought half-heartedly, then sighed. -So why do I feel like such an idiot?-

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"You sure you don't want the other one?" Gordon waved a double cheeseburger under David's nose.

He pushed it away with a growl, his eyes focused on a group of Jokerz who were loitering around the entrance of a convenience store.

"Okay." His friend unwrapped the scorned sandwich and bit into it contentedly. "So, what did you do last night after I went to dance with Di?"

David scowled at the Jokerz as they wandered off. "Danced."

"Really? You actually got out on the floor where everybody could see you?" Gordon sounded skeptical.

David didn't reply, only frowned as what sounded like an old-fashioned Harley motorcycle roared overhead.

"They've been getting a lot of complaints about that thing." Gordon ducked his head to try and see it through the windsheild.

"Uh huh," said David, thinking about how Veronica's eyes sparkled as she talked about her orphan society. Then he growled again as Gordon jabbed him in the shoulder. "What?"

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah." He noticed a patch of glowing graffiti about twenty floors up on the side of a building and wondered how the vandal had gotten up there.

Gordon fell silent for a few minutes, then sighed. "Di's great."

"Don't talk about women."

"Hey, you're not mad at me for ending up on the gossip vids, are you?"

"No." He felt Gordon staring at the back of his head.

"Okay, Dave, what's up? You usually go out on patrol when you wanna think, but all you've done all night is frown 'n make grumpy noises. What's eating you?"

"Nothing!" David scowled.

"Bull!" countered Gordon, scowling back and slapping a sticker off the burger wrapper onto his friend's forehead.

David just rubbed it off and turned back to the window.

The silence inside the car got very thick.

David nearly gave thanks when the scream of terror came out of the darkness of an alley. He was out of the car and running toward it even before the cry had ended.

"Wait up!" He heard Gordon slide over the hood and catch up.

The girl was young, her almond eyes wide behind her domino mask as she stared up at the Painchild who held her pinned to a wall by the throat.

David skidded to a stop, his gun lifted and cocked. "Drop her!"

The muscular young doper, her bare scalp decorated with rows of metal studs, only sniggered and banged her victim's head against the wall. "You want the widdow Bat $#&, pig?"

"I want you to drop her and put your hands in the air," said David evenly.

"I got a better idea, pigs," boomed a deep voice from the mouth of the alley. "How 'bout you drop your guns and we show you the meaning of pain?"

"Oh $&#!" said Gordon.

David turned his eyes to the side, watching as both ends of the alley were blocked by solid walls of Painchildren. -I just walked into a trap.-

He met the eyes of the girl in the little Batgirl cheerleader outfit, his own full of apology. Whether he dropped his gun or not, she wouldn't live to see the light of day.

"I got a better freakin' idea, J rockers!" roared a young female voice from overhead. "How 'bout I drop you!"

"Try it, Batfreak!" bellowed the booming voice. "We'll wipe our &$# with you!"

"In yer freakin' dreams, Bullfrog!" There was the flash of something small flying overhead and a grunt from the mass of leather-clad metalheads in the North end of the alley.

"Dave?" said Gordon softly.

"Yeah, Gord?"

"What's a Batfreak?"

David ducked as something larger flew over, then lunged toward the girl and wrenched her away from her distracted captor. The Painchild cursed and swung a sledgehammer fist, knocking him into the side of a dumpster with stunning force.

He groaned and struggled to focus. "My gun..."

Small, trembling hands pushed it into his.

He blinked at the wannabe Batgirl for a startled instant and she looked back with wide, hopeful eyes.

Then WWIII seemed to break out in the alley.

David jammed the gun into the holster and struggled to his feet, grabbing the girl by the collar of her dress and dragging her up with him. "In the dumpster!"

She obeyed without question and he let the lid down, thanking God for whatever weirdo had decided that Gotham city needed bulletproof dumpsters with airholes. Sure, it was a pain when gun-happy gangers decided to hole up in them, but at least now a little girl had a fighting chance to become an old woman.

He turned, head still reeling, just in time to see a slender, dark figure somersault over two laughing Painchildren. Hands lashed out and touched pressure points and the dopers crumpled like squishy dolls.

"You'll never take us all down, Batfreak!" screamed a guy with loops of wire decorating his bald head. "We'll ice you first!"

"Bite me, bishie!" The mysterious female yelled back, kicking him in the face and then using him as a launchpad for another leap.

-Capoera,- thought David hazily. -Judo...and Kung Fu.- He winced as the young fighter let loose a torrent of scalding derision. -And an attitude bigger than the World Trade Center. Jesus, protect her...-

A board swung his way, glinting with nails, and he dropped automatically and swept his attacker's feet out from under him.

"First blood!" someone screamed.

"&$#& you, loser!" responded Batfreak from somewhere in the thick of it.

The Painchild with the board leapt to his feet with a roar and aimed a vicious kick that David barely managed to dodge.

"You're dead," chanted the scarred teen. "You're dead, you're dead. Gonna make your &$& mama cry."

David dodged again, then yelped as a hand grabbed his arm and wrenched him upright. Before he could do anything the Painchild flew backward, nose flattened as though by an invisible fist. There was a pop and the hiss of escaping gas, then a sudden silence as every Painchild in the alley keeled over.

"What?" David blinked stupidly.

"Are you injured?" asked the deep voice of Batman from behind him.

"My head." He felt himself set down, then fingers gripped his chin gently and turned his head.

"Minor concussion. Robin?"

"Detective Montoya's kind of beat up, but there's nothing bad." The Boy Wonder appeared, hovering in mid-air.

The Dark Knight went to stand beside him, glowing optics sweeping over the heaps of insensate thugs.

"What the heck was that?" demanded Batfreak, putting her hands on her narrow hips.

Robin turned toward her with his usual innocent grin. "It interacts with the Pain serum in their systems 'n knocks 'em out till they get the antidote. Here's some for you."

The skinny teen in the baggy Bat-symbol T-shirt snatched the package with a snort and turned her cowled face toward Batman. "You stink!"

"Huh?" said Robin indignantly. "He just saved your butt!"

"He crashed MY freakin' party!"

"You're weird!"

"And you're a chibi dumb+&$#!"

Batman stood and watched the verbal battle for a few impassive minutes as sirens howled in the distance, then suddenly engaged his rockets and flew away.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Robin zipped in pursuit.

"Losers!" yelled Batfreak, then turned to glare at David.

He looked back hazily, noting that she wore a black bodysuit under the T-shirt, cargo pants, and black canvas high-tops. This was obviously an actual member of the Batclan and not a fangirl.

-Definitely not a fangirl.- He winced as she muttered something highly insulting about Gotham's protector.

"What're you lookin' at?" she growled.

"Thank you," he said softly.

She snorted and shot a grapple toward a fire escape. "Whatever. Freakin' loser."

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"The lass has nary a drop 'o respect in 'er," said Watchman somberly.

"She doesn't need to respect me," said Batman emotionlessly, kicking a chainsaw-wielding Joker in the chest.

"Might make 'er a more amiable sidekick."

"She's not my sidekick" Batman elbowed another clown in the face.

"She wears yer suit 'n yer symbol."

-The symbol was taken up in mockery. The suit was given to protect a valuable life,- thought Batman, but remained silent.

"How many Jokerz does it take to fix a light strip?" chirped Robin from somewhere to her left.

"Uh, I don't know," said the clown he was fighting. "How many?"

"None."

"None?"

"They're the ones that broke it in the first place."

"I don't get it."

"Sorry." The Boy Wonder gave him a kick that knocked him senseless.

"Ye all finished there, lad?" asked Watchman.

"What do you have?" Batman straightened from restraining the battered clowns and glanced toward where Robin spoke soothingly to the woman they'd been mugging.

"Somebody playin' about where he's no business being." Watchman sent the coordinates of the fourteenth floor of a nearby office building.

"I'm on it." Batman launched into the air, her mind going back to David. -What was he thinking of, going into that alley without adequate backup?-

"I'm a baby bumble bee!" caroled Robin from beside her.

Ronnie quirked an eyebrow inside the suit, but withheld comment.

The office building seemed empty as she landed on an outer ledge, but then her sensors picked up a movement somewhere in an inner room.

"Whatcha got, kid?" growled Lobo from behind her.

"Possible cat burgler." Batman eyed the windows, then shot roofward before he could offer to drive through one.

The motorcycle landed next to her and her honorary uncle got off, chain in one hand and bottle in the other.

"Are you drunk?" She paused disapprovingly.

"Nope." He drained the bottle, then gave a thunderous belch and threw it aside. "Just disorderly."

Batman turned back to the roof entrance, her remote scrambler opening the locks before her hand touched the knob.

The floor seemed deserted as she stepped cautiously out of the stairwell with her stealth systems running.

"I just found some Jokerz," said Robin over the suit's com.

"Alright," she subvocalized, the sensitive instruments picking up the sound and transmitting it in the familiar Batman growl.

"Lobo?" She glanced at his puzzled expression.

"I don't sense nobody," he murmured.

Batman cocked her head as a sound reached the suit's audio sensors. A quick scan showed a lifeform in a room at the far end of the hall. "He's here."

Lobo's expression grew more puzzled and uneasy. "I still ain't gettin' anythin'."

Frowning behind the faceplate of her helmet, Batman crept toward her quarry, studying the data on the display. -Alien humanoid. Mature male...doesn't know we're here yet...what is he? What's he doing?- Then she paused as the display flashed a 'subject recognized' and followed it with the word 'Czarnian'.

-Impossible. There are no more Czarnians.-

"What's up, kid?" Lobo gripped the hook on the end of his chain, red eyes flicking toward her.

"Czarnian," she said slowly, then threw up an arm as the building suddenly dissolved into white light around them.


	7. Chapter 6

Batman paused to close her eyes as the fire in her nerves threatened to overwhelm her, then gritted her teeth and continued to try and work her way free of the rubble that entombed her.

"Kid, ya there?" The voice was nearly too faint for the sensors to pick up.

"Lobo." She stopped struggling. "Are you alright?"

"Will be, once they get this +&$# off me. How 'bout you?"

She gritted her teeth, fighting for focus.

"Kid?"

"As you said," she managed, her senses swimming.

"How long we ben in here?"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"It's been nearly twenty-four hours." David frowned at the pile of rubble. "This is too unstable for the usual rescue teams."

Beside him Superman nodded grimly, one hand brushing the symbol on the front of his black T-shirt. "Batman's not the only one in there."

"What? The building was supposed to be empty." David glanced toward where Robin leaned against a blond woman in a pale blue dress.

"He's one of ours." Superman looked at his younger sister. "Can you get them out, Supergirl?"

She shook her head, long black hair swaying. "They're too deep. I can't move that much weight at once."

The pale-skinned man next to her shifted restlessly, his bright blue eyes focused on the heap as he grumbled something in another language.

Superman glanced at him. "Chill, Narmo."

"Bite me," growled Young Lobo.

"Misti?" Superman turned toward a green woman in a long white cloak.

"We can get them," she said softly, turning toward a man who looked like her. "Brother, you take Batman."

Green Ghost nodded, and the two of them walked forward into the heap.

"Why doesn't Supes just dig 'em out?" demanded a rubbernecker from the other side of the yellow laser barrier.

Superman fixed him with a cold blue stare. "The biggest piece in that pile is the size of a plum. Most of it is dust. 'N there may be gas pockets. You really want me stirring that all up into the atmosphere? I thought not."

He folded his arms across his chest and turned back to the destroyed building, though David saw him shoot a glance toward Robin and the woman in blue.

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Batman felt fingers close over her hand, then felt herself start to move slowly. "Misti?"

-Green Ghost. Am I moving too quickly?-

She grimaced at the mental touch, then shuddered at the sensation of her cells slipping through the rubbish around her. "No. You could go faster."

-Are you sure?-

"Yes." She gritted her teeth to hold back a scream at the maddening itch.

It rose to scalding heat and her vision dissolved into brightness.

"Aiie!"

"He's collapsed!"

"I think I moved too fast."

"Ada, let me go!"

"How is he?"

"Vital signs are weak..."

Darkness

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David watched the huge heap of dust and gravel, then turned to check the crowd.

A sea of anxious faces focused on the place where the alien siblings had disappeared.

David sighed, then blinked as he noticed a scruffy blond skatergirl using her distance board as a battering ram to push her way to the front of the crowd. "Hey, kid, cool it."

"Bite me, cowboy." She scowled.

He scowled back, taking a step toward her, but then froze as the crowd roared and turned to see Batman suddenly pop out of the rubble, followed by a figure too bloody to be recognizable. Robin cried out as the Dark Knight teetered and toppled with a crash.

David gasped, his eyes on the still form of the man he considered a friend as a babble of voices broke out all around him.

"Ada, let me go!" Robin struggled in Superman's grasp as the woman in blue knelt next to Batman and hooked a cord to a port on his suit.

"How is he?" David heard his own voice demand.

"Vital signs are weak," said the woman, frowning. "Con, we have to get him home quickly!"

Superman nodded and pushed the sobbing Robin toward Wonder Woman, then gently lifted Batman and flew away with him, Supergirl following in his wake.

David watched them go, feeling shock. -Even in a suit like that? Jesus, help him, please.-

"There was someone else in there." Young Lobo cocked his head.

"I know," said the blond as she turned toward the other person who'd been in the rubble. "He was dead before the blast."

"Wait." David took a step toward her. "You know what happened?"

"Only what the rubble is saying," she said, watching as her injured teammate was levitated away.

"What the rubble is saying," repeated David blankly.

"Yes." She took Robin from Wonder Woman and put a slender arm around his shoulders. "A pale man in a mask came and killed the janitor, then put...explosives of some sort...all over the room. Just as Lobo and Batman came to the room the man in the mask disappeared. Then the building blew apart."

"Lobo's back." David blinked, suddenly understanding the flying motorcycle complaints and the rash of suspects shoved into stinking dumpsters. Then he blinked again, remembering the images on the disk that Batman had given him. "Was the mask red and black? Full face?"

"Yes." The woman in blue nodded, then looked up as Supergirl returned to hover over them.

-Hormah,- thought David bleakly. -He's teleporting. No wonder we can never track him.-

"Let's go," said Young Lobo gruffly. "Wonder Woman, yer in charge till Con gets back."

The tall woman in Roman armor nodded, dark eyes serious behind the nose guard of her helmet, then turned back to her remaining teammates as Young Lobo, Robin, and the woman in blue were lifted into the air in a V behind Supergirl.

David watched them till they disappeared over the rooftops, then turned to look at Gordon.

"What is that?" His friend pointed, eyebrow raised.

David looked down at his hand and blinked. "A stress worm."

"A what now?"

"Stress worm." David stuck it in his pocket, reminding himself again that he had to return it. "We've got to get equipment in here. Tell Hobbs and Kid to have the men move the crowd further back.

Gordon quirked an eyebrow, but turned to follow the order. "Right..."

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It was ten o'clock Thursday morning before he had time to call about the worm.

"Wayne Manor," said the crisp accents of the butler after the first ring.

"This is David Freeman," he said hesitantly. "Could I speak with Veronica please?"

"I'm sorry, sir, but Miss Veronica is unable to speak on the telephone at the moment. May I take a message?"

"Er..." He frowned at the worm, which seemed to be cuddling a sugar-dusted cruller that Gordon had left on his desk. _Great, she's put me on her brush-off list._

"Commissioner Freeman?"

He blinked. "I was just wondering when it would be a good time to bring her pet back. He ended up in my pocket on Saturday."

"Pet?"

"Yeah, her stress worm." He poked it and got cooed at.

"Oh dear. Please feel free to return it at any time, Commissioner."

"How about in a few minutes?" He gently pried the worm away from the doughnut, ignoring its unhappy squeaks.

"Very well, sir. I shall be expecting you."

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He glanced around at the extensive grounds, remembering stories his father had told him of attending parties at Wayne Manor before the family had been wiped out by that Blight attack.

A coo from the worm in his hand snapped him back to the present and he glanced at it as he pressed the doorbell.

The door opened immediately and the butler stood looking at him mildly. "Good morning, Commissioner Freeman. Have you had breakfast yet?"

He finally realized why Gordon had given him that cruller. "I don't think so. I was too caught up in a case."

She nodded, lips thinning in disapproval. "Won't you please come in? I'm sure that Master Clark would enjoy your company as he takes his mid-morning snack."

"No. It's alright." He shook his head. "I don't want to give you more work..."

"Nonsense, sir! I was in the process of preparing brunch for one of Miss Veronica's houseguests, adding a few more ingredients will be no work at all."

David realized that he was inside the house with the door closed and blinked in bewilderment. His bemusement increased as he was escorted to a sunny breakfast nook and his coat was taken. _I guess those butler stereotypes are true._

"Hi, Commissioner!" Clark skidded to a stop just before he collided with the table. "Have you seen Batman lately?"

David grinned at the boy's enthusiasm. "I talked to him last night."

"Sweet!" Clark slid into the nook across from him and accepted a steaming mug of chai latte from the butler. "Thanks, Prudence. So he's okay. Being buried under all that stuff didn't hurt him."

"It knocked him out for a bit," said David. "I was a little surprised to see him out last night."

"Nothing can keep Batman down," said Clark loyally. "He always comes back." Then he noticed what David was holding. "Oh, hey! I wondered where Lorn was."

"Lorn?" David set the worm free on the table.

"Lorn Green. You know, the actor on 'Bonanza'?"

"I've never heard of it."

"Oh. Well I'll lend you a couple of episodes." Clark picked the worm up and held it to his chest, crooning to it softly and being cooed at in return. "It's a really old show. From back when TVs still had tubes."

"What is it? Adventure?" David sipped his own chai and hoped no one else could hear his stomach growling in response to all the scents that filled the kitchen.

"Western." Clark ran his fingers lightly over the worm's belly and frowned in concern. "Her egg's gone. I guess it didn't hatch either. Too bad, she's our only green one."

"She was pregnant?" David leaned over to frown at the contented worm.

"They don't get pregnant," said Clark. "They just carry their eggs in a pouch on their belly."

David looked at the lengthwise crease and frowned harder, moving his elbow out of the way as Prudence set a plate of pancakes on the table. "Could I have crushed it? I squeezed her pretty hard a couple times."

"No. You couldn't break a stress worm egg." Clark accepted a sandwich and bowed his head over it, then took a bite and pointed to a tiny ornament on the windowsill next to David.

David hurriedly asked a blessing for his own meal, then picked up the sparkling trinket and saw that it was an egg-shaped box made from some semi-precious stone that he couldn't identify. "What's this?"

"A stress worm eggshell. Ronnie added the gold trim and the stand." Clark finished his chai and reached for the glass of milk Prudence had set by his plate.

"Oh." David turned it in his fingers and studied the intricate filigree work, then set back on the sill and picked up his fork. "No. I don't think I could break that."

"My grandma's bounced them off my grandpa's head without breaking them," Clark said around a cheek full of sandwich.

"You tellin' tales on me, kid?"

David started and looked up at the lovely woman with the long, pale blond hair and the bright blue eyes.

She gave him a roguish grin as Clark slid over on the seat to make room for her. "I'm Esther Wolf."

"David Freeman." He offered a hand and was surprised at the grip of her slender hand. "You're Clark's grandma?"

"Yup. His mother's my second oldest." Esther took the plate of pancakes that Prudence handed her and examined them thoughtfully. "What're these brown things?"

"Peanut butter chips," said Clark, taking another huge bite of sandwich.

"Ohh." She grinned and took her fork. "Sweet." Then she glanced at David and quirked an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

"Clark's mother is alive? I thought..." He stopped, feeling embarrassed.

"We'd all dropped off?" She chuckled. "Nope. Clark lives with Ronnie 'cause he wants ta."

"Oh." David blinked.

"So what're ya here for?" asked Esther, picking peanut butter chips out of her cakes and nibbling them.

"I brought back one of Veronica's stress worms." David gestured to where it sat on Clark's shoulder with its head tucked under. "She accidentally left it with me on Saturday."

"Call 'er Ronnie," advised Esther. "Everyone else does, other'n Pru." She glanced at the woman in question, then turned back. "Y' wanna see 'er?"

"See who?" David pushed away his empty plate, feeling the last few days catching up with him.

"Ronnie," said Esther, pushing hers away as well.

He shook his head, remembering the last thing Veronica had said to him. "No. I need to get home."

"Crash here. Come on." Esther stood and tugged on his arm.

"I don't think Veronica would like that," he said evenly.

"What? Yer crashin' here or you goin' t' see 'er?"

"Either."

"Maybe your visit would make her feel better," said Clark solemnly.

"Feel better?" David tensed. "Is she sick?"

"Clark nodded. "She has been since Sunday. Her nervous system's glitching."

"She said that she didn't want to see me again," said David quietly, his eyes on the table top. "I'd like to respect her wishes."

"She what?" Clark gaped in dismay. "No way!"

"She proly won't see ya anyway," said Esther softly. "She ain't woke up since Tuesday."

David felt his heart jump up into his throat as his eyes flew to her face. "She's that bad?"

The blond woman nodded mutely.

"The doctor says to just let her rest, but for us to talk to her so she knows we're there," said Clark.

David rubbed his face and growled, then stood. "Where is she?"

"This way." Esther took his arm and leaned against it slightly as she limped at his side.

The halls were decorated with understated elegance, but all David noticed was the slight swaying of the elevator as it reached the second floor, and the little grey stress worm that sat on Ronnie's chest as he came into her room.

Diana Free looked up from where she sat next to the bed, her eyes widening slightly when she saw him. "Her fever's gone up."

Esther growled what sounded like a foreign curse and sat on the side of the bed as she lay a hand on Ronnie's flushed forehead. "Yeah, it has. I'll call Penny. You go eat."

"But who'll sit with her?" Diana frowned.

"Let Davie do it." Esther stood and limped out of the room, her pale dress swishing around her legs.

Diana shot him a rueful look. "Congrats, you've been adopted."

"Okay," he said absently, his eyes on the rise and fall of Ronnie's chest.

"Well, see you. Hit the blue button if you need anything."

"Sure." He dropped into the chair and pulled it closer to the bed, only half-hearing the door close.

Ronnie flinched and whimpered at the sound, then moaned softly.

"Shh." David straightened the blankets under her chin, then realized that he was absently searching for Lorn in his pocket with his other hand and set it over Ronnie's instead.

"Pru," she murmured. "Where's Clark?"

"Clark's downstairs," he said softly, though he knew she couldn't hear him.

"Aiie!" she keened faintly, then fell silent but for the moans.

"Shh," he said, touching her forehead and wincing. "It'll stop soon."

She moaned on, unaware of his words or his presence. The little stress worm on her chest gave an unhappy squeak and twitched.

David picked it up and squeezed it, then dropped it absently and touched Ronnie's cheek with his fingertips. "You're going to be alright."

She turned her face toward him slightly, her expression relaxing.

"Yeah." He smiled slightly. "That's right. Just take it easy and get better."

Ronnie sighed and fell into a quieter sleep.

David sighed and reached down to pull the stress worm out of his pant leg, hearing the door open behind him.

"&$#!"

David jerked upright in the chair and turned to face the newcomer. "Lobo? What are you doing here?"

The alien biker gave him a dangerous look, red eyes gleaming. "Checkin' on the kid. What the frag're you doin'?"

"Esther asked me to sit with Ronnie." David blinked, his exhausted brain whirling as he glanced from the woman on the bed to the notorious former Teen Titan. "How do you know her?"

Lobo's expression went blank as he crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame. "Met 'er at Star Labs when they were puttin' 'er back t'gether."

David nodded, then turned back to the bed as Ronnie coughed. Seeing that she was alright, he looked back to Lobo and saw that the alien was halfway across the floor, forehead furrowed in concern.

"Do you want to sit here?" he offered reluctantly.

"Naw. Got better things t' do." Lobo crossed his arms again, eyes on Ronnie's face.

-Sure you do,- thought David. "I have to go see if Prudence has my room ready anyway." He stood. "Nice meeting you..."

He stopped short as he found himself pinned under a murderous crimson glare.

"Yer stayin' here?" Lobo's voice could have cut steel.

"Yes." David glared back.

"Yeah. He's crashin' in one 'a the spare rooms. Put yer hackles down."

Lobo jumped as Esther patted his butt, then turned his evil expression toward her. "Sez who?"

"Sez me." She folded her arms and matched his glower with one of her own. "He's Ronnie's friend 'n he's worked 'imself stupid. Cut the poor Cregger some slack."

"Look, I don't want to be a..." started David.

"Shut it," said Esther without looking away from Lobo.

"Doesn' matter what I say." The biker turned away sullenly. "Yer gonna do whatever ya fraggin' wanna."

"Yup," said Esther easily, smiling again. "So just siddown 'n keep an eye on that kid 'n I'll take this one t' his room before he falls over."

David looked down at her as she put her arm around his and led him out of the room.

"The doc'll be here in a few," she said cheerfully as they moved down the hall. "I see Ronnie settled down."

"Yeah," said David bemusedly, brain working overtime.

Esther glanced up at him knowingly. "Don't mind the grouch. 'E's just worried."

"He never hit me as the type to befriend a sick child."

Esther stopped in front of a door and let go his arm to push it open. "Even wolves love their cubs."

"Ronnie's not his daughter." David frowned.

"Try tellin' him that." Esther snorted, then glanced around the expansive room. "Anyhow, here ya go. Good night."

"Wait. Esther..." He stopped at her blank look. "Never mind. Thanks for the room."

"No problem, kid. Sleep all ya want." She grinned and left, closing the door behind her.

David frowned after her, but then realized that he was falling asleep on his feet and stumbled to the huge bed. He stayed awake just long enough to pull off his shoes.


	8. Chapter 7

The soft buzz-saw rasp of a snore gently drew her to wakefulness and she opened her eyes to see her honorary brother holding a paperclip over his sleeping father's open mouth.

"Narmo...don't. Don't..." She paused to close her eyes and muster her senses. "Don't want your head imbedded in my wall."

"Crud. Didn't think 'a that."

She heard the clip clatter to the table, then felt him sit on the side of her bed and put a hand over hers.

"How ya feelin'?"

"Weak." She opened her eyes again. "Burned."

"Yeah. Yer nerve wirin' got hot with all those other molecules slidin' through it." His forehead creased. "I was gonna kick J'onni's butt, but he said ya told 'im t' go that fast."

"Did." She turned her head to look out the window, blinking against a slight painkiller haze. "Wanted it over...with."

"Maybe ya shouldn' be talkin' so much."

She turned back to frown at him and saw the concern in his bright Eldari eyes. "Vendea's orders?"

"No. But I know I sure didn' feel like sayin' alot after Snofu run over me with that steamroller." He fussed with her blankets, then grinned at her affectionately.

Ronnie smiled back, though she suspected that it hardly came out as a mouth twitch.

Then she noticed something on his shoulder. "Lorn."

"Oh yeah. Yer boyfriend brought her back..." He glanced at the clock, which was turned away from the bed. "Yesterday mornin'."

"Boy...friend?" she asked drowsily," mind already drifting back toward sleep.

"That's what Ada said." Narmo noticed her eyes drooping and kissed her cheek.. "Sleep, Gwathil. I'm takin' care'a yer rounds till yer better."

"Thanks." She smiled and felt herself sink into dreams.

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-I love late morning starts.- David glanced at the chrono in the corner of his monitor, then started flinging unneeded things into the recycling bins. -Eight o'clock. I'm slept up for the week.-

He stopped as his mind went back to Ronnie and her unexpected friendship with a metahuman. She'd been sleeping peacefully, fever broken, as he left her house at six the night before. Her strange guardian had still been by her side, giving him looks that promised mayhem if he stepped wrong when he had gone to see her before heading for home.

-Jesus, help her heal, please. And please help me focus on my job instead of thinking about her.- He growled and threw Gordon's half-eaten chocolate bar, then growled again when it missed the bin. -We have to get this Hormah put away before the insane #$&+...sorry. Before the he kills anyone else.-

He tossed the chocolate bar, then came back and adjusted the miniature holo of he, Steph, and Gordon before reaching for the dried out doughnut.

"Huh?" He blinked as something rolled out of the hole into his hand. "Oh. Lorne's egg."

He shook the translucent green ovid near his ear as he tossed the cruller, then flopped into his chair and examined it thoughtfully, wondering if it would smell like a rotten hen egg if he broke it.

There was a sudden twitch and the two halves of the eggshell rolled away, leaving a tiny green stress worm clinging to the palm of his hand.

David gaped. "Oi!"

The baby worm started, then gave a hopeful coo.

"Darnit." David glanced around, remembering that newborns generally wanted to eat soon after birth. He growled as he realized that he'd thrown away the baby's breakfast and every other crumb in the office.

Scowling, he hit the speed-dial on his speakerphone. "Gord, you wanna bring me a doughnut or a Twinkie?"

There was a startled silence on the other end of the line.

"Gordo?" He cupped the little worm close to his chest and rubbed its back with a finger as it squeaked.

"Um. Sure. What kind?" asked Gordon, sounding shocked.

"I don't care...wait. No icing." David glanced up at Batman. "Give me a minute."

_Dave, you just put Batman on hold_, said a little shocked inner voice.

_He can take it_, came the quick reply as the door opened and Gordon thrust some kind of cake doughnut at him.

"Thanks" He set baby worm on the desk and put several crumbs in front of it, grinning in relief as it cood and began to eat contentedly.

"Is that a lima bean?" Gordon rubbed his eyes and leaned over to look. "Did your worm have a baby?"

"It wasn't mine, but yeah, it did." David shook his head.

"Where's the mother?" Gordon inched a curious finger toward the little green thing.

"I gave her back. Now I have to take time to return this one, too." David scowled and scrubbed his face, then stopped and looked thoughtful. _Maybe Prudence will feed me again._

"Where were you yesterday?" asked Gordon, curling his finger back at the last minute. "I went by your place and you weren't home."

"I dropped her mother off at Wayne Manor and they told me I could sleep there." David caught the little worm as it started toward Gordon and eyed it curiously.

"You slept at Wayne Manor?" Gordon looked up, then jumped. "Um, Batman..."

"Oh, right." He turned toward the Dark Knight sheepishly.

Batman radiated amusement despite the expressionless face mask as he handed over a data chip.

"Thanks." David glanced at it, then up at the now-empty corner.

"Where'd he go?" Gordon dropped into a chair, blinking. "And how'd he move that fast?"

David shrugged and dropped the chip into his computor, then picked up the baby worm as it started making a funny pinging sound and dropped it into his chest pocket.

"What's that?" Gordon leaned over to see the dark green text as it appeared on the paler green background.

"Information for the Hormah case," said David, frowning at it absently as he read.

"What kind of name is 'Hormah'?" Gordon snorted.

"Hebrew. It means 'distruction'." David took the chip out, then slipped it into a box of other chips. -The guy's an alien? Great, that opens a whole new can of worms. What're his abilities? Does he have a kryptonite?- He glanced toward the window as its servos whined and quirked an eyebrow when he saw who was pulling it open and climbing through.

"Woah," said Gordon, eyes wide.

Lobo folded his arms over his chest and looked down at the detective impassively.

Gordon lifted his eyebrows, then scowled and fidgeted. "Don't tell me you came here just to give me the evil eye."

Lobo smirked.

Gordon scowled harder. "Dave, you know this guy?"

"Yeah, we've met," growled David.

"You okay with 'im bein' here?"

"Yeah."

"Okay! I'm outta here." The door slammed shut.

David shook his head and turned a scowl of his own toward Lobo, but then blinked as the alien gave a satisfied chuckle and grinned at him.

"She's awake."

The scowl dropped away before his burst of relief. "How is she?"

"Weak 'n dopey, but she'll be alright." Lobo picked up the holo and studied it. "Who's the broad?"

"My girlfriend Steph." David snagged it and tucked it safely in a drawer.

"Girlfriend?" Lobo narrowed one eye.

"She died." David took the baby worm out of his pocket and looked down at it.

"When?"

"Five years ago."

There was a silence so long that David looked up to see if the space biker had pulled a disapearing act and saw a strange expression on the other man's face.

"Well, that sucks."

David raised an eyebrow at the rough sympathy but stayed silent, waiting to see what the alien wanted.

Lobo squinted and scratched one cheek, then scowled at him absently for a few minutes before shrugging and slipping back through the window without another word.

David blinked and raised one eyebrow, then reached for the phone.

"Hello?" said Clark's voice uncertainly.

"Hey, it's David. I found that egg." He held the tiny worm up on the tip of his finger and examined its faint whitish markings.

"Hi, Commisioner!" said Clark. "That's sweet, but guess what?"

"It hatched."

"Ronnie's awake...it did? There's a baby?"

"Yeah." David grinned. "It looks like a lima bean."

"A green one!" cried Clark. "Prudence! Ronnie! Lorne's baby's green! The egg hatched!"

David winced at a sudden rushing sound and a bang, feeling grateful that he hadn't been talking with an earphone. "Clark? You okay?"

"Hello?" asked a tired-sounding female voice.

"Ronnie." He gulped. "I'm really sorry. I just wanted Clark to know that his egg was alright."

"David." She sighed. "That's good to know. What's the little one like?"

"Green with white markings." He put it back in his pocket.

She chuckled. "Sounds like a lima bean."

"Gord thought it looked like one." He grinned. "I can send someone to bring it back."

"No, that's alright. You keep her."

"Are you sure?" He frowned. "Clark seemed pretty happy about it."

"He was talking about giving you Lorn."

"Shouldn't you ask him to make sure? I don't want to just take something from a kid."

"He's gone to yell the good news off the roof," said Ronnie comfortably. "He'll be hyper for the rest of the day."

"Oh." David glanced at the window as it came back online and whirred shut, then winced as a flash threw his entire office into sharp contrast.

"David?" asked Ronnie urgently as a deep boom shook the room.

"I have to go." He was on his feet, pulling on his jacket and trying to keep his breakfast from making a reapperance at the thought of more people dying.

"Was it Hormah?"

"I have to go." He hit the disconnect button and rushed out of the office.

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Ronnie managed to get out of bed and into her chair before Prudence caught her and carried her back.

"Let me go. I have to get to the Cave."

"You aren't going anywhere, Miss Veronica. Miss Vendea was most firm in her instructions," said the butler implacably. "On no account are you to exert yourself."

"Ronnie! Prudence!"

"We know, Master Clark," said Prudence without looking up from tucking Ronnie into bed.

"I have to go to the Cave," growled Ronnie.

Prudence gave a sigh of exasperation. "There is nothing you can do. Now if you don't settle down I will be forced to sedate you."

"You wouldn't do that." Ronnie stared at her in shock.

"Wouldn't I?" said Prudence evenly.

Ronnie groaned and turned away, feeling the frustration and anger rise up to choke her. -Jesus, please stop that madman. Please put a sheild between him and my city.-

She flinched as Clark curled up against her back, feeling damp as though he'd been playing in a light rain, then stared sightlessly out the window, her heart far away in a red mech suit.


	9. Chapter 8

Ronnie glanced to her left and leaped into the air just as the second skinhead took a swing at her, coming down on his back seconds after his fist cracked into his friend's nose.

Whirling, she grabbed the third man and shook him, then threw him against the wall. She was searching the shadows for the forth tough when the alley shimmered and disappeared.

"Uncle Lobo?" She frowned.

"You have a telephone call, Miss Veronica," said Prudence's voice over the speaker.

Ronnie grumbled and pulled off the helmet of her practice suit, then walked into the main part of the Cave and picked up her cellphone. "This is Ronnie."

"Hi!" said Rich cheerfully. "How's my favorite cousin today?"

Her expression went into the Bat scowl. "Don't ask me questions I'll have to repent of the answers to."

"That bad, huh," he said soberly.

"Yes. And no, I don't want to go out for dinner. Nor do I want to see the new display at the aboratum." She turned and walked toward the costume vault.

"Hey, Ronnie, remember, Bruce took years to finally stop the Joker."

"Bruce didn't stop the Joker, the Joker reformed. And the Joker wasn't as dangerous as this man." She bent to study the keypad by the vault door, wondering if it had been Prudence who had recoded it.

"True." Rich sighed. "Oh, I might have found a new sidekick."

"Might have?" She pressed buttons swiftly and quirked an eyebrow as the door slid open.

"Yeah. She found me on Sunday and said that she wanted to learn how to protect if she had to. She's got a lot of promise. Apparently she got caught in some kind of rumble between Batfreak and some Painchildren. She says the Commissioner was there."

"I don't remember seeing a girl there." Ronnie clipped the earphone on and started replacing the practice suit with the Bat suit. "But Robin and I arrived after the fight was well under way. Why didn't she come to Batman?"

"She said you already had a pupil." Rich paused suspiciously as the Bat suit whirred to life. "Ronnie, what are you doing?"

She held the helmet under her arm as she walked out of the vault and slid into the Batmobile. "Checking some systems." She started flipping switches.

"What systems?"

She grinned triumphantly and took off the earphone. "Talk to you later, Rich."

"Ronnie!" His yell of despair was drowned out in the roar of the Batmobile's engine.

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She was cruising through the back ways of Gotham, one eye on the streets below and the other on the screen in the center of the steering wheel, when Lobo pulled his bike up next to the car and pointed to his ear.

"What do you want?" she asked, flipping on the radio.

"Where the #$&+ do ya get off sneakin' out without me?" he roared. "I taught ya more respect than that!"

Batman raised one eyebrow, biting off a laugh. "I heard you say you knew why you couldn't track Hormah."

"Don't change the fraggin' subject, y' ungrateful bastich!" he snarled.

She growled and pulled the car away from him, knowing that there'd be no talking to him till he calmed down. There was a sudden flash of red, green, and yellow, and she banked hard to the left to avoid running into Robin.

"Hey!" said her sidekick cheerfully. "Prudence was bumping her head against the wall and telling Ama you got away when I left."

Batman nodded and closed the door, then lifted the car a little higher and drove over the river. "Did you hear Lobo's theory as to why he can't track Hormah?"

"Yeah." Robin settled in the seat properly and fastened his harness. "Hormah's another Lobo clone."

Batman swallowed, realizing why her uncle was so angry. "Is he sure?"

"That's the only way there could be another full-blooded Czarnian still alive, unless somebody was playing with a time machine. But then he'd be able to track him."

"Right." She fell silent, digesting the ramifications of that information and accessing the suit's records to see what had happened during the three days that Narmo had been standing in for her.

-One attack other than the one on Friday,- she thought, setting her teeth at the scenes of devastation.

"Just another 'man it's Monday'," sang Robin absently.

"No old country pop," growled Batman.

"Sorry." He switched to older pop and started singing 'Kung Fu Fighting'.

"Hey, Bats," growled Lobo.

"You ready to be civil?" She glanced at the window and saw him cruising next to the Batmobile again.

"#$&+ no." He gave her a toothy grin.

She shook her head. "Robin told me."

"Good." The grin faded to a snarl.

"If he's another you then he's probably doing all this for fun."

"No probably 'bout it. Crazy bastich's havin' the time 'a 'is life."

Batman watched him for a few minutes, feeling the hair on her arms stand up as she realized that he would have been just as likely to be out indiscriminately ending lives if it weren't for the hand of God in his life. If a 'good' Lobo cut up as much as he did, a 'bad' Lobo would be unthinkable to a rational mind.

-Jesus, shield us.-

A beep from the proximity monitor made her blink.

"Supergirl," said Robin.

"I see." She watched the black-haired girl child dart around Lobo and the Batmobile before settling on the hood.

"Prudence is mad," she reported solemnly.

"She'll get over it. She always does." Robin grinned at her through the windsheild.

She frowned at him slightly, then fiddled with her mouthpiece and turned toward Batman. "Couldn't you have waited a few more days, like Vendea suggested?"

"As much a #$&+ boyscout as yer old man was," muttered Lobo.

Supergirl glanced at him, then telekenetically scooped a plastic bag off a tree branch and let it blow into his face. "Leave my father out of this."

He pulled it away and glared at her, but she only flew away. "Sheesh, what's her problem?"

"You try being twelve years old for a hundred years," said Robin wryly. "Or the daughter of a famous guy you never met, but that everyone expects you to be like."

"Nobody's makin' 'er play superhero," growled Lobo. "She could go be a hermit like Marty."

"No, she couldn't," said Batman. "That's not what she was born for."

"Whatever." Lobo revved his engine, then ducked as Clara zipped over his head. "Hey!"

-He's at the police station!- she cried, eyes wide.

"Warn them!" barked Batman.

"I did." She spun in place and followed the Batmobile as it accelerated.

"Go home," said Batman. "Take Robin with you."

"But, Batman...!"

"This isn't going to be a fight for children." Batman let Ronnie's voice come over the link. "Send Con and Wonder Woman."

"Why don't you call them!" shouted Clara, then quailed at Lobo's glare.

Robin flew through the open door and reached toward his youthful friend. "Let's go."

Batman watched the two specks of colour fade into the distance, then angled the Batmobile toward a roof and flew out.

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The tall figure was looking for something when Batman burst through the wall of the foyer and slammed into him, her hands tearing away his mask before he bellowed a curse and backhanded her into the front desk.

She bounded to her feet and charged, gritting her teeth at sight of the familiar stubbly face.

He dodged, but the speed of the Bat suit caught him by surprise and they crashed through another wall, locked in combat.

"Why?" growled Batman, pushing Hormah's head back. "Why kill so many?"

"Fun'a it." He raked his fingers over the chest of her suit, trying to gain purchase as he smirked, then flipped and sent her flying back into the foyer. "Same reason I'll frag you."

"In yer dreams, bastich!" Lobo swung his hook and caught his twin in the side. "Nobody frags the Bat unless I say."

Hormah snarled. "Stay outta this, slorg bait!"

"Too late fer that." Lobo kicked him in the chest and sent him flying. "Think killin's fun? How 'bout dyin'?"

Batman caught Hormah, only to reel back as he slammed his fist into her faceplate hard enough to crack it.

"Murderin' bastich!" Lobo kicked him again.

"Call the #$&+ kettle black." Hormah let loose a handful of flechetts.

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David frantically radioed for everyone to stay away from the building, ducking as an explosion blew out the ground floor windows.

"All units clear the area!" he repeated, hacking out dust. "Batman's got things under control!"

Batman flew through the wall and skidded down the street like a skipping stone, then stumbled to his feet and staggered back inside.

David winced and grabbed for his gun as the hero fell back into sight, propelled by two Lobos who seemed to be trying to tear each others' throats out. Batman grabbed the one in dark red and threw him back into the building, then flew in after him, leaving the Lobo in black to hold his stomach and hack blood on the street.

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"Ya ain't gonna win this, freak!" snarled Hormah. "I can't be killed."

Batman withheld comment, instead concentrating on damaging her opponent enough to immobilize him. But she had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as she saw how fast his injuries healed, closing over minutes after they were inflicted. -Jesus, show me what to do.-

Hormah pounded his forehead into her cracked mask and she felt a wave of agony as her visuals cut out.

Growling, she slammed her fist into his face, hearing bone crack, then felt herself airborne again. The screaming of a car alarm announced where she'd landed.

She was on her feet again in an instant, only to hit the pavement as her balancers cut out. "Urg!"

"Batman?"

She cocked her head. "Get out of here, Commissioner."

"No." Hands touched the suit. "How badly are you hurt?"

She hit the inner switch that would change her eyepeices to one way mirrors and glowered at him, then pushed him away and dragged herself to her feet moments before an explosion spattered the two of them in blood.

Batman looked at Lobo as he came to a rest a few feet away from her, then raised her eyes to Hormah, her vision darkening in disbelief. "No."

"Batman?" David reached for his gun as Hormah laughed and took a step toward them, then yelped as Batman backhanded him out of the way and threw something after him.

"Your turn, freak." Hormah's face contorted in mad glee.

Batman looked down at the still form of the only father she remembered and felt a numbness close over her. -Jesus. Forgive me. Forgive Hormah.-

Reaching into the reinforced compartment on her chest, she pulled out a small silver globe with a ring attached and quickly linked its circuits to her suit's.

Hormah paused, frowning uneasily at the unfamiliar object.

-Jesus, forgive me,- thought Batman a second time, then pulled the ring and threw the nano grenade just as Hormah threw something of his own.

She turned and tried to dive for cover, only to hit her face as the battered servos locked.

There was a flash of light and a wave of heat.

Then nothing.

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David struggled against whatever it was that Batman had thrown at him, then froze as a firestorm roared over him.

It was over in an instant. He found himself laying unbound and unharmed in the charred remains of the wrappings. Car alarms blared in the distance.

He listened to them for a stunned moment, then slowly rolled over and pushed himself to his feet.

Devastation met his eyes: destroyed automobiles, melted streetlights, windows blown out of buildings.

-Lord...- He shuddered, too stunned to even think.

Then he started convulsively as he saw something move in the burned-out street. "Lobo?"

The former mercenary was dragging himself toward the crumpled form of Batman, leaving a thick swatch of red in his wake.

He groaned as David knelt beside him and stopped the tortured journey, then let his battered face drop to the scorched pavement and struggled to speak.

"Just be still." David swallowed at the clammy chill of the man's skin. "Help is coming."

"Ronnie..." Lobo lifted his head again and grimaced. "Needs ya." His face hit the street again. "Let...'er...die...'n...I'll frag ya."

David leaned close to hear the breathless words, then reared back in confusion. "What happned to Ronnie?"

A shaking, mangled hand pointed toward the motionless Bat suit. "Dumb...bastich!"

David stared at the back of Lobo's head as the meaning of the words sank in, then groaned and scrambled toward the fallen hero on all fours.

The scowling mask was gone. In its place was the soot-streaked face of Veronica Grayson.

"No..." said David softly, touching her cheek. "How?"

Fumbling, he sought some means of removing her battered helmet, but then gave up and searched for a pulse at her throat.

-No...please...- He groaned, but then gasped as his fingers found the thready flutter.

Tipping her head back, he began to blow air into her lungs, praying that moving her wouldn't aggravate her injuries.

A hand touched his arm and he flinched, then looked up into the face of the blond JLA medic.

"You'll have to move," she said softly, gently pushing him aside as her hands found hidden catches that opened the burned and broken armor, then pulled an oxygen mask over Ronnie's nose and mouth.

David watched numbly, his eyes on the still silver face as the blond wrapped something around Ronnie's chest and activated it. -Please, Jesus. Let her live.-

There was a gasp, then another as the band contracted and relaxed.

"Miss Veronica!" The soft cry was feminine and grieved.

David turned toward it and was unsurprised to see Catwoman crouched next to him. "Prudence."

A gloved hand hovered over the costumed woman's hidden mouth as a sad mewling sound came from her chest. "Lord God, please..."

"The surge fried the suit circuitry," said the blond, her hands stilling in their quick efforts.

"What of her neural net?" whispered Prudence.

The blond shook her head. "Offline, as is the life-support module."

A faint whimper interrupted the steady gasps, and Ronnie's eyes fluttered.

"Ronnie?" "Miss Veronica?" David and Prudence spoke simultaneously.

She whimpered again, her face contorting slightly as her eyelids stopped their frantic shivering and moved once, decisively.

"Can you hear us?" asked the blond, sitting back on her heels.

Another blink.

"Are you in pain?"

Two blinks.

"Do you feel anything?"

A long, anxious pause and then two more blinks.

The blond bit her lip, then turned to David. "Can you hold her for a few minutes?"

He frowned at her. "What do you mean?"

"Wrap her in your jacket, keep her warm against your chest. She can't feel it, but knowing that she's close to someone dear will help her."

"Is she...?" He choked off the word even as he did what she said.

"Dying?" She shook her head. "Not unless shock sets in."

David bit his lip as he cradled the motionless woman, then lay his cheek against her hair. "Shh. It's alright. It's over. Hormah's gone."

"Hormah's gone, and it's over. But it ain't all right."

David turned toward the voice and saw Young Lobo crouched next to Lobo with a look of numb shock on his face.

"Let me see," said the blond.

Young Lobo caught her wrist and pushed her hand away. "He's gone. Died facedown in the street like a dog..."

Ronnie gave a thin keen, and David looked down to see tears leaking from under her closed eyelids.

"Are you sure?" he demanded horsely.

Young Lobo looked at him blankly. "You try livin' with yer guts blown out."

"Narmo!" the blond said warningly, then held her hand over Lobo's back and bowed her head. "Farewell, Father. Ada not of blood but of the heart..." She trailed off into another language, the soft, musical words heavy with grief and parting.

Young Lobo bounded to his feet with a growl and stalked away, pushing past the lazer barrier and disapearing into the crowd.

A tall blond in black leather and an eyepatch put her arms around the weeping medic, her one eye resting lovingly on the body of the fallen warrior. "Ambulance's here, Vendea. Prudence, stop yer fussin' 'n git back ta the kids. Clara's in a #$&+ of a state. Dave, git Ronnie in there. We don't got time ta waste."

He frowned at her as he stood slowely, thinking that under the pointed ears and scars she looked familiar.

"Star?" Superman landed next to them.

"Yeah?" the woman in leather said evenly, handing the medic over to him and pushing David and Ronnie toward the ambulance.

"Are you...?"

"I'm alright. Take care'a Vendea."

David lay Ronnie on the gurney and touched her cheek, then jumped back down to the pavement. "I'll come as soon as I can. My people are looking for me."

Star and Superman looked at him, then nodded.

"Right. But get yer tail ta Star Labs ASAP," ordered the tall blond, then limped to the ambulance and hopped lightly inside.

"Esther," he realized, realizing too why Clark had seemed so familiar.

"Yeah." Superman watched the ambulance drive away, smoothing the medic's hair as she rested her head on his shoulder.

David glanced over at a call from a detective that had just been allowed past the barrier by the green-skinned Misti, then jerked his eyes toward a figure in a silver Bat cowel and cape, his mind making more connections and wondering about others.

He glanced down at the heap of discarded armor and the still body of the most notorious antihero in history, then stepped back and walked to meet the approaching detective.


	10. Chapter 9

David rubbed his face, then flinched and put a hand up to catch Mr. Bean as the baby stress worm crawled off his collar and onto his neck.

"Someone will be down to see you shortely, Commissioner Freeman," said the receptionist, pressing a button. "You can wait in the lobby."

He shook his head and waited where he was, sipping his cold coffee with a grimace and eyeing his cooing fist.

"That sounds like a guinea pig," said the receptionist.

"Yeah. Sorta." He shifted the little worm so that he could rub it between his thumb and forefinger while he stared blankly at a poster that advertized Star Labs technological prowess.

"Took ya long enough."

He blinked and focused on Clark's grandmother. "I know. I came as soon as I could. How is she?"

"Sleepin'." She frowned at him thoughtfully. "You look like #$&+."

He frowned back, taking in the pallor of her skin and the dark shadows under her eye, and noticing the way she was leaning against the wall. "What do I call you?"

"My name's Elen," she said indifferently. "In English it's Star."

"Are you alright?"

She sighed and turned her face away for a few minutes. "I will be. Right now I'm still listenin' fer a voice I ain't gonna hear again till I hit Heaven."

"Lobo?"

"Yeah." She wiped her face with the back of her hand. "Come on. Clark'll be glad ta see ya."

He fell into step beside her, finding that he didn't need to slow to accommodate her limp. "What happened?"

She glanced at him absently. "My leg? They call 'em dire wolves now. Broke the thigh bone in two places."

"What planet was that?" He frowned.

"Earth. Back before Eve decided ta try things her way."

"You were time travelling?"

"Nope. Just showed up in this reality 'n got a little lost." She stopped and pressed the elevator button, then put her fingers on a special plate.

"Showed up in this reality?" He looked at her strangely as he followed her into the elevator.

"Uh huh."

He felt the slight dip in his stomach that told him they were going downward, then turned in concern as Star put a hand to her stomach and hissed under her breath. "What's wrong?"

"Queasy." She squeezed her eye shut and went even paler, so that her skin looked nearly transclucent. "Urgh..."

"Are you going to be sick?"

"Nothin' left t' be sick with." She leaned her shoulder against the wall and wrapped her arms around herself.

David reached toward her shoulder, only to stop as she flinched.

"Don't do that," she said, her musical voice quivering. "I don't got time ta cry right now."

"Why not?" He guided her out of the elevator as the door opened, then stood next to her as she visibly fought for control.

"Because..." She lifted the back of her hand to her mouth and sqeezed her eyes shut. "I...oh #$&+..."

He caught her as she fell, going to one knee and cradling her for a moment before stuffing Mr. Bean into a pocket and gently patting her cheek. "Star?"

"What happened?" Young Lobo was suddenly kneeling beside him.

"She fainted." David continued his resuscitation efforts and was rewarded by a weak moan.

"Ama?" Young Lobo leaned forward slightly.

Her eye fluttered open, but then drifted shut again.

"Ama." The black-haired Justice Leaguer took her and held her close, resting his cheek against her head. "Don't leave me."

She moved weakly, shaking her head, then keened softly and clenched her fist on the front of his T-shirt.

"She said she was sick." David shrugged out of his jacket and offered it.

Young Lobo scowled at him absently, then looked down at Star with a searching expression which swiftly changed to wonder. "Another sister?"

"What?" David let the hand holding the jacket drop.

"Ama." Young Lobo shook Star gently. "Why didn' ya tell me?"

"Hadn'..." She swallowed and turned her face to his chest. "I hadn' even tol' yer ol' man yet."

Young Lobo rocked her slightly, taking the jacket and putting it around her shoulders. "Let me take care'a things. Yer in no shape. Ada'd kick my rear if he knew I'd let ya get this sick."

She gasped a protest in that musical alien language, then shuddered and moaned.

"Yer tired 'n sick, 'n ya need ta be careful fer the baby." Young Lobo stood, jerking his head at David as he continued speaking to her. "Come on. Clara just brought some cots."

Star nodded, relaxing and snuggling into David's jacket.

"Young Lobo..."

"Call me Narmo."

David quirked an eyebrow. "Alright. What's wrong?"

"She was tryin' ta do too much, stressin' my new sister before she even got a chance."

"Your new sister?" David stopped short in shock. "Star is your mother?"

"Yeah." Narmo's concern faded into a slight smirk. "Lobo's wife."

"But she's Clark's grandmother."

"Yeah. He's my older sister Vendea's kid."

"The medic." David remembered.

"Doctor. Yeah. Superman's ol' lady."

"Clark's Superman's son."

"Yeah." Narmo's smirk got bigger. "Thought ya were supposed ta be a great detective. Ya hadn' figured that all out?"

"I've been a bit busy lately," David said absently.

"Yeah." Narmo's smirk faded, and he turned and started walking again. "Sorry."

"I'm sorry too." David fell into step with him.

"What for?" Narmo glanced at Mr. Bean as the little worm crawled up David's shoulder.

"Your father," said David awkwardly, remembering the other man's infamous temper. "He died trying to help Ronnie."

Narmo's eyes glimmered suspiciously. "Figures. He always was a suck when it came ta her."

David followed him around a corner in the hallway, stepping behind him to let two white-coated Star Lab employees past.

Star made a slight sound, her shoulders shaking.

"Ama?" Narmo looked down at her.

"...just as much ta you if y'd ever let 'im," she said through her sobs. "'N Clark too."

"I know." He rubbed her arm and stopped in front of a set of double doors.

David cleared his throat.

Narmo looked back at him questioningly.

"Maybe I should come back later. This is family time," said David softly.

"'N yer family, dumb#$&+." Narmo walked forward and the doors slid back. "Come on."

David hesitated, but then he caught sight of the form that floated in a large tank in the center of the room. -Ronnie...-

He was inside and beside it before he realized he'd moved, one hand lifting to touch the warm glass.

"Do you want me to let her know you're here?"

He looked down at Supergirl blankly. "Is she awake?"

"No." The tiny half Kryptonian shook her head, blue eyes serious under her black bangs. "But she's dreaming."

David rested his other hand beside the first, his eyes tracing the planes of Ronnie's peaceful face. "How is she?"

"Better. Jesus already put some of her neural net back online, even though it was melted in some places," said Supergirl seriously. "We're praying He'll fix the rest now."

-Thank You.- David leaned his head against the tank, squeezing his eyes shut as the rush of relief and gratefulness made his head go funny for a moment.

Then he opened his eyes and looked down at the ageless superheroine. "We?"

"Clark and Misti and Diana and I," she clarified. "And Prudence."

He nodded, feeling no surprise to learn that Diana Free had Justice League connections. A cry from behind him made him turn in time to see Narmo lifting a Robin-suit clad Clark away from a table as the boy gasped and blinked in sleepy disorientation.

"Shh." The dark-haired biker held the child to his chest for a moment. "It's just me. I'm puttin' ya t' bed."

Clark rubbed his eyes wearily. "Did He heal anything else?"

"Not yet." Narmo carried him toward the cots. "Ya wanna sleep with Star?"

"Gramma?" Clark turned his head. "Sure. Is the Commissioner here yet?"

"Yeah, but y' can talk ta 'im later." Narmo lay him next to Star and rearranged the blanket over them. "Sleep now."

"Sure, Uncle Narmo." Clark sighed as his grandmother put her arms around him. "G'night. G'night, Gramma."

"'Night, kid." Narmo squeezed the little boy's shoulder and turned away. "Clara, you oughtta sleep too."

She nodded without looking up from the tank readouts. "Uh huh."

"What's happening?" asked David, leaning over to look.

"Another section just came back online." She looked up at him with an excited grin.

"Thank You, Jesus!" He grinned too.

"Amen," said Narmo, coming up behind them. "Come on, Clara, y' had a rough day 'n ya need ta sleep."

She frowned up at him with the same expression David had seen kids give their fathers. "But I'm monitoring her progress."

"So's God. 'N ya made 'er forget about what happened ta Ada, so she's not gonna have nightmares." Narmo scooped her up gently and hugged her, then carried her toward the empty cot.

She frowned, but then drooped with a sigh. "Sit with me?"

"'Course." He plunked down on the edge of the cot and settled her on it, then rested a hand on her back.

David watched them wordlessly, then turned back to the readouts as something beeped.

"What's it say?" asked Narmo.

David ran his eyes over the panel, trying to see what had changed. "I'm not sure." Then he noticed something that made his blood go cold. "Her heart's not beating."

"That's okay. It never does."

"What?" He turned to stare at Narmo.

"It's some kind'a living rock," said the biker. "Pumps without beatin'."

"A living rock," repeated David blankly.

"Yeah." Clark lifted his head and rubbed one eye with a fist. "The nerve gas wrecked her first one, so her fairy godmother gave her a new one."

"Go ta sleep," growled Narmo.

"I am." Clark settled down again.

"What do you mean, 'fairy godmother'?" David frowned.

Narmo shot him an irritated look. "She's this alien chick that's ben watchin' out fer the Graysons since Dick's little sister was Robin. The heart's made'a the same crystal she is."

"Oh." David turned back to the tank, wondering if he should be surprised about anything he learned about Ronnie and her family. They seemed on a whole to take the strangest things for granted.

"Hey, Narmo." Superman stepped in. "Kenny just side-swiped your bike. You wanna come help me 'n J'onni get it out of the river?"

"The river?" Narmo gaped. "How the frag did 'e get it in the river?"

"Hey, man, this' Kid Flash we're talking about. 'How' has no place in his reality."

Narmo grumbled and rubbed his face. "I'm comin'. That kid's gonna put me in the loony bin yet."

"No, he's not," said Supergirl sleepily.

"No." Narmo got up and followed his brother-in-law out, slugging him in the ribs as he made some sort of crack.

David watched them go, then turned back to the monitors and grinned as a red line suddenly turned green. -God, You're even more amazing than alien fairy godmothers and thousand year lifespans. You're a God of miracles...- He paused as something else beeped, then looked up as a hand pressed itself to the other side of the glass from his.

He stared at it, feeling his heart race, then looked up to see Ronnie resting her forehead against the inside of the tank as she gazed at him with those wide grey eyes.

-Jesus...- He touched the glass near her face, the strangeness fading from his mind, to be replaced by a rush of love and joy. -Thank You.-


	11. Epilogue

Ronnie watched as Narmo leaned over his guitar, his eyes closed as he strummed the heavy-metal piece he'd written in honor of his father and new sister.

"What do you think, Mornbein?" She glanced down at the two day old girl and chuckled wryly at the look of bliss on the baby's face.

"That's not too loud for her?" asked David in concern.

"For Lobo's kid?" Kid Flash paused in his attack on the buffet table to give the Police Commisioner a funny look.

"Never mind." David scooped the baby out of his wife's lap and lay his cheek on her soft black hair as she waved her tiny fists excitedly.

"Is this some kinda Eldari thing? Having a wake eight months after a guy dies?" demanded and armored man with feathered wings.

"Don't bother answering, David." Ronnie stood, the servos of her suit whirring softly, and calmly walked toward the threatening figure. "Airman, are you drunk?"

He eyed her in an unfriendly manner. "I don't drink alcaholic substances, as the members of the Justice League know."

Ronnie half wished she'd come as Batman as she held her fingers over his glass. There was a beep and she quirked an eyebrow. "Alright, people, who spiked the punch?"

"I wonder." Star crossed one leg over the other and wriggled her bare toes.

Wonder Woman cocked her head, clinging to her trademark silence as an enigmatic smile played over her mouth.

"You?" asked Nightwing in surprise, her skirt and batwing sleeves swaying as she turned to look up at the armored woman.

Wonder Woman just turned and walked away.

"Could we say a proper goodbye to Lobo without getting Airman drunk?" asked Flash, her green eyes dancing behind her mask.

"We could try." Ronnie took the offending glass and set it aside. "Remember, this is a welcome party for Mornbein, too. She won't like seeing her aunts and uncles get into a fight."

"I don't get into needless altercations," said Airman, his eyes straying toward Misti.

"We could take him to the parking garage," said Dragon Fire.

Ronnie gave her a Look.

"Wow." Little John shuddered. "You must take lessons from Batman. I'm glad you're not mad at me." He glanced at Nightwing to see what she was doing and turend red as he saw her looking back at him.

"Too bad Batman didn't come," said Clark with a sigh, then raised his eyebrows as Green Ghost choked back a laugh.

Ronnie watched them, then turned to David as he walked over and smiled at her.

"That reminds me," he subvocalized, the words tickling her ear as they came from the tiny speaker set there. "Why is it Batman?"

"Family tradition," she replied the same way.

He quirked an eyebrow, rubbing Mornbein's back as the baby sneezed and gave a squawk of outrage.

Ronnie chuckled and turned her so that she couldn't stare at the lights. "My great, great grand aunt, Mary Grayson always went by 'he' while she was in uniform."

"Couldn't people tell the difference when she got older?"

"She never grew up," said Ronnie softly. "She was born in the same lab as Aunt Clara."

"Oh." David frowned. "Right. I've read about her."

"She lived a good life. Prudence and Aunt Clara say that nothing ever knocked her down for long." Ronnie took Mornbein back and cradled her close, smiling as the tiny girl sighed and closed her eyes.

"Whoop!" Kid Flash suddenly popped into sight doing painful contortions to avoid vibrating through Ronnie and wound up halfway through the floor instead.

"You got a deathwish or somethin'?" asked Narmo rhetorically as Green Ghost pulled the young speedster out.

"Go zoom!" announced Zippy suddenly.

"No!" Flash grabbed at empty air where the toddler had stood, then blurred away herself. "No zoom!"

"Yay fer zoom." Star hopped off the table she'd been sitting on and sidestepped Silver Bat as he came to rescue Nightwing from the puddle of punch Little John had just dumped on her. "Beauty ready ta come back ta Ama?"

Ronnie looked away from her cousin and his sidekick and glanced down at Mornbein's sleeping face. "Err..."

"What is it 'bout you 'n my kids 'n grandkids?" Star chuckled and took the baby, then glanced up as Con got onto the stage.

"Alright, people," he said, reaching down and flipping the switch on Zippy's restrainer suit. "As you know this party is in honor of Lobo and his youngest daughter, Mornbein. If any of you have words of farewell or welcome please feel free to come up and share them." He picked up the disgruntled toddler and bounced him gently, his blue eyes going distant. "Yeah. Welcome to the family, Mornbein, 'Black Beauty'. You won't be meeting your dad for awhile, but there are a lot of people here who can tell you about him as you get older."

Ronnie hooked her arm through David's as person after person stood on the stage and welcomed the black-haired baby. Very few added awkward goodbyes to her father.

David looked down at her grimly. "Should I go up?"

"Don't ruin his reputation." Her mouth quirked. "God and his family knew what he really was. The rest doesn't matter."

"Yeah." Narmo came to lean on the wall next to them, grinning down at Clara as she wriggled under his arm.

Ronnie glanced at them with a smile, then turned back to the stage in time to see Star step up and look down at the assembled guests with queenly dignity.

"What's that?" asked David as a white light seemed to flicker around Star's brow.

"Glory," murmured Ronnie, her heart constricting as her Aunt's earthly form became superimposed with a shimmering, flawless image clothed in blinding white.

"Not everyone is seeing this?" David glanced around.

"I don't know." Ronnie smiled as Mornbein woke in her mother's arms and looked with wide eyes at something that only she and Star could see.

"Jesus," said Star softly, holding her newborn up. "Thank You for this child. I give 'er back ta You now, t' serve You all the days she inhabits this body, 'n ta shine Your glory inta the world of Men." She cocked her head and looked inward. "Lobo, husband no more..."

_"So we'll go no more a roving_

_So late into the night,_

_Though the heart be still as loving,_

_And the moon be still as bright._

_"For the sword outwears its sheath,_

_And the soul wears out the breast_

_And the heart must pause to breathe,_

_And Love itself have rest._

_"Though the night was made for loving,_

_And the day returns too soon,_

_Yet we'll go no more a roving_

_By the light of the moon."_

As she spoke she seemed to dwindle, the light fading till only Star was left, once more scarred and lame, cradling her tiny daughter close.

"It was good while it lasted. Thanks, Jesus," she whispered, then stepped down and limped from the room.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Batman stood between two gargoyles, looking down at her city, Robin a happy murmur in the darkness behind her.

She cocked her head as a motorcycle roared overhead, headed toward Metropolis, her mind swiftly processing information even as it lingered on the Glory that had shone in Star's form.

"Signal," said Robin, zipping out of the shadows.

Batman glanced at it, then bowed her head briefly before launching after her sidekick and leaving the rooftops and the gargoyles to the night.

(poem is "We Will No More Go a Roving." by Byron, and belongs to him.)


End file.
